Dreams and Love

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2008)

Slumdog Millionaire is an excellent movie that depicts a side of India with a cruel reality. The movie has a raw edge that is hardly found in most Bollywood films. Jamal, the main character, is excellent in playing his role though I was more impressed with the younger Jamal than the older one. The movie opens with the interrogation of Jamal, the 18-year-old boy from the slums who just won 10 million Rupees on the the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. After picking all the right answers, his honesty is questioned as how in the world can an uneducated boy from the slums of Mumbai win 10 million Rupees on the show. He recounts his life story to his interrogators as he tells on how he knew the answer to every question.
The picturesque scenes of rubbish-laden hillsides among the slums and tough travels on India's train system tells a story of struggle growing up homeless. The movie also recounts Jamal's experience of Hindus rioting against the Muslims in India, torching villages and people, and of a man who fed the homeless children and in turn use them to beg for money. And yet, one can still find innocent happiness among the children. Perhaps this had caused Jamal not have riches as his primary concern but rather just finding his true love that he once lost a long time ago. As if fate had it that he was only asked questions he knew of, like Benjamin Franklin on a $100 bill, but not Ghandi on a 1000 Rupee note which he did not know of. In the end, in his quest to find his love, and ironically not for the money, he wins both.