A man from the slums of Mumbai competes in a game show

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2009)

Slumdog Millionaire is a rags to riches saga, and it's also the oldest story in the world: Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy tries to get girl back... But yet, in so many ways, it takes what could be such a dusty old story and makes it new again. Even the premise of a game show on first blush seems like it will yield little if anything of interest, but even though I am not a fan of these silly game shows (except of course Jeopardy, which challenges the mind) I was enthralled by this movie.
And on top of the compelling story, you also get a most fascinating backdrop: India, and the City of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. You get teeming slums filled with poor but resourceful people juxtaposed with the splendor of the Taj Mahal; you get an ancient culture making rapid fire changes to a modern one, transforming before your eyes. Slumdog Millionaire is quite an achievement, and one that seems to have come along at precisely the best time: Like the game show, it offers an escape in times of economic strife.
The device of the game show is brilliant, as it allows the questions, and the subsequent interrogations, to each trigger a flashback, an episode in the past that will illuminate how Jamal Malik, the nominative Slumdog Millionaire, came to know the answer. Sure, there is some luck involved, but oftentimes a memorable event in Jamal's past will make the answers stick in his mind. As we discover how he knew the answers we also learn about how much he loves Latika, and how his brother Salim became a gangster. The performances of the three characters in that "bazaar" love triangle, as children, and then young adults, were brilliant. Kudos to Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, and the lovely Freida Pinto. Anil Kapoor was brilliant as the show host, Prem Kumar--a younger, Indian version of Regis, but with an edge.
Prem Kumar: So are you ready for the final question for 20 million rupees?
Jamal Malik: No, but maybe it's written, no?
Prem Kumar: Maybe...