This is not a 'feelgood' film

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2009)

You have to go and see this film if...
a) you care a fig about people, no matter their skin tone. b)you like Indian music c) Don't believe the stories about this being a 'feelgood' movie because it isn't. I'd not have gone to the trouble of going to the cinema to see a 'feelgood' film...I'm happily grumpy much of the time. Anyone who thinks this is 'feelgood' lacks a social conscience or a brain in which to house one. d)You enjoy quizzes e)like most people with an ounce of human decency you enjoy the triumph of good over evil.
This is no 'Mamma-Mia' it won't plaster a silly grin over your face nor will it give you good dreams. The scenes of the aforementioned slums are an affront to decency. Acre upon acre of corrugated tin roofs which shelter millions of the helpless and the truly hopeless. For hope must be in short supply in such a terrible place. The high buildings which are rising alongside the shanty might offer some of course...a job in a call centre as a 'phone-basher' perhaps.
From such a hive of overcrowded industry comes our hero. In unlikely guise. The film is a series of flashbacks detailing Jamal's life so far. And what a life it had been. I'll not spoil it for you but he somehow survived childhood with only mental scars and many of his contemporaries were not so lucky. His big brother Salem had a hand in said survival and the love of his like Latika drove him on. The evil that men do is well depicted. It doesn't stop the lad arriving on the telly facing a 20,000,000 million Rupee question before a 90,000,000 audience.
Any fantasy can engineer the outcome. This one was unlikely , but apt. Two hours plus flew by... ...We exited in darkness talking about what we'd just seen - always a good sign. My Wife's instant reaction on leaving the theatre was to gush 'that was excellent' . I was slightly taken aback by this down to earth woman's enthusiasm but had to admit we'd just enjoyed a film extravaganza.
A decidedly human story in a place where humanity teems, and the currency of survival is a little less of a lottery now that prosperity -for some at least is knocking at the door but they have a long, long way to go. This was an eye opener and puts the credit crunch in perspective.
If you DO go then DO NOT LEAVE before the end credits have rolled.