Slumdog Millionaire is the best 2008 sleeper film of the year

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2008)

(Synopsis) "Slumdog Millionaire" tells the life story of two orphan brothers, Jamal (Dev Patel) and Salim (Madhur Mittal), who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and Bombay, India. Jamal works as a chai wallah (tea boy) at a call center where he calls in and gets a chance to be a contestant on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" The uneducated Jamal is put in the hot seat to answer each question. While playing the game Jamal remembers the answer by having a flashback of his life. The show's host cannot believe how a street "slumdog" like Jamal can correctly answer all the questions. As the show breaks for the day with only one question left, the host gets the police to interrogate Jamal to find out how he is cheating. After being tortured by the police, Jamal explains the sequence of events from his life in which he learns the answers. Jamal is released in time to answer the final $1,000,000 ($20,000,000 rupees) question.
(My Comment) This is the 2008 sleeper film of the year that should win an Oscar for best film. The movie, describing the real India and the harsh life in India's slums, follows the life journey of three children, Jamal, Salim, and Latika (Freida Pinto), that is told through Jamal's eyes. These children lived in deplorable conditions growing up in abject poverty, crime, violence, also friendship, love, and hope. We get to see a slice-of-life that we really don't want to see; children living in squalor and adults taking advantage of them. However, all this will change if Jamal wins the TV game. If we played the Millionaire game, we would know the answers from what we learned in school, whereas, Jamal learned the answers from living a hard and eventful life. Jamal's flashbacks, revealing the details of Jamal's journey, are done in such a way that the film flows with ease. Stay through the closing credits and see the Bollywood dance number. This is one movie not to miss. (Celador Films, Run Time 2:00, Rated R) (10/10)