Fear, violence, savage injustice and cruelty... hilarity and filthy beauty

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2009)

Slumdog Millionaire "Feelgood". That's what was in my head as I sat down to watch Slumdog Millionaire − I'd read everywhere how it's the feelgood movie of the decade etc etc.
So I was a bit surprised to find myself plunged into a world of fear, violence, savage injustice and extreme cruelty − though admittedly shot through with great hilarity and a kind of filthy beauty. It seems director Danny Boyle has done it again, and brought Trainspotting's pungent attractions to the notorious slums of Mumbai.
The film chronicles the precarious lives of three kids struggling to survive in the dangerous, predatory world of the slums. The story is told through the sequence of questions in a nail-biting episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Slum kid Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) inches his way towards 20 million rupees while the whole of India watches TV, transfixed − and so are we.
Malik (one of the excellent ensemble in cult TV show Skins) has garnered much publicity for his role, but the three main characters are also played by other actors, as little children then as young teenagers − they all give mesmerising performances in highly challenging roles.
The vivid contrasts of India also play a starring role in this film: baby scavengers in the mountains of rubbish, the glorious colours of a thousand saris drying in the sun, poetic train journeys, battalions of tuk tuks, the sleek glint of Mercedes and Dior sunglasses.
There are many memorable moments, horrible, poignant and wonderful.
Early on, young Jamal, locked in a 'long-drop' communal toilet, is desperate to escape to meet his favourite Bollywood movie star. He jumps into the brimming pit below one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen − and very funny.
An idyllic orphanage turns out to be anything but: the children are forced into joining an Artful Dodger-style gang of beggars and thieves. But their masters are no cosy Fagins: youngsters with a talent for singing are chloroformed and blinded to increase begging revenue.
A few years older, the two boys operate as inept, fraudulent tour guides at the Taj Mahal − their services include taking Polaroids of women tourists wanting to recreate the famous Princess Diana picture.
Jamal's older brother Salim grows up to be a cocky, trigger-happy gangster working for the top dog who sweeps away the slums to build glitzy skyscrapers, while his childhood sweetheart Latika (Freida Pinto) becomes the vile old crime lord's beautiful, beaten mistress.
As Millionaire reaches its climax, there's a tear-jerking welter of revenge, redemption and lovers united − finally that feel-good factor! The entire slum population crowded round TV sets rooting for their boy fair brings a lump to the throat.
But don't leave your seats just yet − or you'll miss the best end-credits I've seen: a joyous disco pastiche of a big Bollywood dance number in Mumbai's iconic Victoria train station.