Lightweight and corny

Rating: 3/10 (22 January 2009)

I'm truly bewildered by the lavish praise that this movie is attracting. I just thought it corny and mildly irritating.
My first problem was the half-movie/half-TV show format. A question is asked on the TV show. Cue flashback to the slums that shows how the lead character knows the answer. Each flashback involves frenetic running through narrow alleyways pursued by various evildoers. Back to the TV show. Another question followed by another flashback involving more running through the slums. By the 16,000 rupee question this was already wearing thin on me.
I also didn't like the gross overuse of jerky slow motion and tilted camera angles. It just added to the repetitiveness of the question--->run through the slums---->question---- >run through the slums narrative.
I'm baffled that so may critics have praised the movie because of its depiction of reality. In what universe do two brothers witness the murder of their mother at the hand of religious bigots, yet still grow up seemingly unaffected to become a couple of happy-go-lucky scamps in search of adventure? How real is the depiction of Lakita who gets sent to a brothel but the audience are assured that she was never violated and is rescued as a virgin? How many child prostitutes do you think there are in the slums of Mumbai and how many of those do you reckon are virgins? Please ponder that for a moment.
This is pure Disneyfication of poverty - a world filled with mischievous and lovable little rascals who live on garbage dumps, where the baddies always get their comeuppance, where the good guys always win and where the child prostitutes are always virgins who will ultimately be whisked away by newly minted millionaires.
The story is a pure fantasy, like Lady and the Tramp. A cheesy love story and a piece of cinematic bubble gum. Take it at face value and you might find the fast pace entertaining enough to pass a few hours.
This is not a movie to learn about India or to gain any great insight about what life is like in the slums. It is far too lightweight for that.