excellent!

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2009)

Uniquely original fable with charm to spare. The tale of a young Muslim man from the slums of Mumbai who wins 20m rupees on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - and the story of how and why he knew the answers. Told mostly in flashback we are shown the young Jamal and his elder brother Salim, and how they seek to escape their poverty-stricken existence after the brutal killing of their mother at the hands of religious extremists. At the beginning of the film as Jamal is being tortured by the police ,who believe he cheated on the show, we are asked how does a "slumdog" from Mumbai know all the answers? Slowly we are shown. For all those people who believe that India is a charming, mystical place full of awe and wonder, need to watch a film like this. Mumbai is shown to be the polluted, disgusting, corrupt-ridden sinkhole it is and the treatment of the street children is heartbreaking, even to a cynical sod like me. Many of the films best scenes are in the flashback sequences as Jamal, Salim and their young female companion, Latika, struggle to survive on the streets. The performances from the young actors who portray the main characters younger selves is astonishing and one forgets that we are watching actors (as its supposed to be in movies but often isn't). If Charles Dickens were alive today he would probably be writing something like this as many of the issues that were close to Dickens' heart (poverty, street crime, family, honour) are to be found here - there is even a Fagin character as well as the gang from Oliver Twist. It also has a Bollywood-style mass dance number as the icing on the cake. A must-see film. Note to Hollywood - please don't remake this.