A great movie

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2009)

This movie is rightly considered the front-runner for this year's Best Picture. It is easily the year's best and one of the best of the whole decade. It is directed by Danny Boyle, who should win the year's Best Director Oscar, and is about a young man, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, who should have been Oscar-nominated) who is a contestant on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". Jamal does very well on the questions of the show, which are very difficult, and the police believe to have gotten so many questions right, Jamal must have cheated.
But in telling the story of his life, amidst grinding poverty and oppression, Jamal tells how he was able to know the answers to the questions that were posed to him. Jamal's story is mainly about how he combated his dire circumstances with his brother Salim and how he has always loved a young girl named Latika. In fact Jamal went on the game show hoping Latika would see it and that the two might be reunited after years of separation.
I went to this film expecting a lot and was surprised to see that it was better than I hoped for. It tells an uplifting story and mixes gritty drama, of how Jamal used his wits and courage to get by in a world designed to grind him down as he is only a "slumdog", with romance as Jamal never forgets Latika and only dreams that against all odds that the pair can get back together. So, this film gets a grade of 10 and the highest possible recommendation.