Biggest Product Placement since Cast Away

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2009)

Remember Cast Away, with the product placement for FedEx which so swamped the film as to make it seem ludicrous? Well, this film comes close to matching it with its "hommage" to Who Wants to be a Millionaire? In the novel upon which the film is based, the spine of the story is provided by the struggle between the boy from the slums who threatens to win the big prize on a local TV quiz show and the presenter of the show and its producers who cannot afford to pay out the top prize and so set the police upon the boy to extract a confession of cheating. In the film, the presenter denounces the boy to the police although his motive is not clear. It is certainly not because the producers cannot afford the prize. On the contrary, the brand image of "Millionaire" as a show that loves its contestants to win is strongly reinforced. The production team is shown applauding his success and "Millionaire" is shown in a very positive light as being the focus of all India's leisure interest. Shouldn't we be a bit uneasy about otherwise decent films succumbing to product placement on this scale?