Slumdog Millionaire Is Written To Be A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (6 October 2011)

Slumdog Millionaire is opens with a scene wherein a Mumbai teen named Jamal Malik,who grew up in the slums,becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?".He is one question away from winning the grand prize of 20 million Rupees.He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated by corrupt and immoral Indian police.As he explains on the reason why he knows the answers to the question, events from his life history are shown in flashback from his days to the slums,the Taj Mahal,Bombay and up to present as an employee of XL5 Mobile Phones.Each layer of his life provides the key to the knowledge of the answers of the questions asked to him in the famous game show.This cinematic masterpiece provides a great and memorable story about poverty,loneliness,hope and love.
The movie was hypnotic to see from beginning to end.From the start,we start to care very much for the underdog,Jamal,who has lived a life of poverty from the moment he was born;the sufferings and misfortunes that he has to go through like the death of his mother;his adventures with his older brother,Salim from the moment they were taken by Maman and escaped from them after realizing that they are going to be manipulated as beggars to earn money,their misadventures at Taj Mahal and when he decided to return to Bombay; and of course,the love story of Jamal and Latika,particularly,the former's unending love,search and determination to be with her.In summary,it was a classic entertainment that not any other movie can just provide.
The recognition given to this film like its 8 Oscars together with the other 104 awards is a testament to that.
The acting in this movie is solid.Dev Patel provides great performance as the older Jamal as he is able so solicit our empathy and care for his idealistic character. Frieda Pinto,who played older Latika,was effective as Jamal's love interest. While Madhur Mittal was excellent as the pragmatic and tragic older Salim.All the rest of the cast were commendable as well.Special mention should be given to Anil Kapoor as the annoying and arrogant game show host;Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as the youngest Salim and youngest Jamal respectively as both child actors carried the first 1/3 of the film superbly; Irrfan Khan as the brutal police inspector;Saurabh Shukla as the police sergeant;Ankur Vikal as Maman; and Rubina Ali for her screen presence as the youngest Latika.
The direction of David Boyle to say the least was prefect.There was no dull moment in the film for it was flawless from first scene up to the end.Credit also should be given to Simon Beaufoy's screenplay.And last but not the least,A.R. Rahman's original score and original song," Jai Ho" is definitely worth the praise and the Oscars and other awards presented to them.
If one is feeling down and upset about the situation in life,watch this film and capture the warmth,hope and inspiration it provides.Just as it is written that Jamal's destiny it to win the grand prize and to be with Latika for the rest of his life,it is also written that this film is will fill the viewer with a great pleasure for it is a masterpiece for it is not only the best picture of 2008 but of the decade.Highly recommended. A 10/10 rating. It truly deserves to be among the top 250 films of IMDb.