The masterpiece of masterpieces

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2008)

As others have noted, Slumdog Millionaire, is a very unconventional film about a young boy who grew up in the slums of Bombay/Mumbai and goes on to become a winner at the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Indian series title - Kaun Banega Crorepati). The movie touches on many subjects - the hindu-Muslim religious tension, the living condition in Mumbai slums, the abuse of young kids, child labour, the list goes on. Weaving all these unconnected themes into a movie is in itself a very difficult task, but Boyle seems to have not only woven them together, but he has done so remarkably well ! Jamal, the main character represents the "untouchable" in a typical Indian society. He lives in abject poverty in the dirt and filth of the slum, where life has little value and dwellers have almost no chance of earning a white collar job. When he finally makes it to the seat of the most popular show of India, the quizmaster parodies that a chaiwalla (tea boy) has made it to show like this. He makes fun of Jamal, often making stinging remarks about how a low class slumdog has foolishly aspired to become a millionaire. But, soon, the show takes a more serious turn as Jamal begins to answer the questions successfully.
The story begins with Jamal sitting in the interrogation room, being tortured by police officers who suspect that his feat the night before at the show was attained through deceit. When all methods of torture fails, the head officer demands to know how Jamal knew the answers. To him, it seems impossible that a slum dweller could be so knowledgeable as to outshine the very learned Indian men and women. Jamal then proceeds to explain how he knew the answers, and how living the low life of a slumdog gave him the answers to all the questions. The movie matures with every explanation given by Jamal. This culminates into a wonderful story about love, hope, determination and the real side of life.
I don't write reviews in general, and very few movies have made me sit up and make the effort of writing one. This movie belongs to the genre of Shawshank Redemption, of Crash, of City of God, of Cinema Paradiso, or of It's a beautiful life and it seems that the movie has taken the best of all of these masterpieces and molded the pieces together into a movie called Slumdog Millionaire.