Slumdog Millionaire

Plot synopsis:
18-year-old Jamal Malik, an Indian Muslim from the Juhu slum, is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and is one question away from the grand prize. However, before the ₹20 million (US$310,000) question, he is detained and tortured by the police, who suspect him of cheating because of the impossibility of a simple "slumdog" with very little education knowing all the answers. Jamal recounts, through flashbacks, the incidents in his life which provided him with each answer.
Jamal's flashbacks begin with his managing, at age five, to obtain the autograph of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, which his brother Salim then sells, followed immediately by the death of his mother during the Bombay riots. As they flee the riot, the brothers meet Latika, a girl from their slum. Salim is reluctant to take her in, but Jamal suggests that she could be the "third musketeer", a character from the Alexandre Dumas novel The Three Musketeers (which they had been studying—albeit not very diligently—in school), whose name they do not know.
The three are found by Maman—a gangster who tricks and then trains street children into becoming beggars. When Salim discovers Maman is blinding the children in order to make them more effective beggars, he flees with Jamal and Latika to a departing train. Latika fails to board the train as Salim purposefully lets go of her hand, in revenge for an extremely embarrassing prank that Latika had played on Salim. This resulted in her being recaptured by Maman. Over the next few years, Salim and Jamal make a living travelling on top of trains, selling goods, picking pockets, working as dish washers, and pretending to be tour guides at the Taj Mahal, where they also steal people's shoes. At Jamal's insistence, they return to Mumbai to find Latika, discovering that she is being raised by Maman to be a prostitute, to fetch him soon a high price and as a virgin. The brothers rescue her, and while escaping Maman they shoot him to death. Salim then manages to get a job with Javed—Maman's rival crime lord. Back at their room, Salim orders Jamal to leave him and Latika alone. When Jamal refuses, Salim draws a gun on him, whereas Latika persuades Jamal to obey his brother and go away.
Years later, Jamal, now a Chaiwala in an Indian call centre, searches the centre's database for Salim and Latika. He fails in finding Latika, while succeeding in finding Salim, now a high-ranking lieutenant in Javed's crime organisation. Jamal reproaches Salim, who then pleads for forgiveness, and offers him to stay in his luxurious apartment. Jamal later bluffs his way into Javed's residence to reunite with Latika but as he professes his love for her, Latika asks him to forget about her. Jamal nevertheless promises to wait for her every day at five o'clock at the VT station. Latika attempts to meet him there, but is recaptured by Javed's men, led by Salim, and once Javed moves to another house, outside Mumbai, the two again lose contact. Jamal becomes a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, knowing that she watches the show regularly. Much to the consternation of Prem Kumar, the show's host, Jamal becomes a wonder across India. He uses the 50/50 lifeline on the penultimate question and during the following break, whilst in the men's room, Kumar tries to fail Jamal, feeding him with a wrong answer, yet Jamal chooses the other one, which turns out to be the correct answer.
Assuming Jamal is cheating, the police are involved. After an initial beating up, the police inspector listens to Jamal's explanation of how he reached each answer. Finding all of them "bizarrely plausible", he allows him back to the show. At Javed's safehouse, Latika sees Jamal on the news and Salim, in an effort to make amends for his past behaviour, gives Latika his mobile phone and car keys, and asks her to forgive him and to go to Jamal. Latika is reluctant out of fear of Javed, but agrees and escapes. Salim fills a bathtub with money and sits in it, awaiting for Javed and his men as they realize that he let Latika free. Jamal's final question is the name of the third musketeer in The Three Musketeers, which he never learned. Jamal uses his "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline to call Salim's cell, as it is the only phone number he knows. Latika answers the phone, and, while she does not know the answer, tells Jamal that she is safe. Relieved, Jamal arbitrarily picks Aramis, the right answer, and wins the grand prize. Javed hears Latika on the show and realises that Salim has betrayed him. He and his men break down the bathroom door but Salim kills Javed before he is shot, gasping, "God is great". Jamal and Latika meet on the platform at the railway station and they kiss.

Tags: fantasy, murder, realism, dramatic, cult, cute, violence, flashback, feel-good, psychedelic, melodrama, romantic, sentimental

Review:
There has already been some talk coming from Telluride that this film is set to be this year's 'Juno.' It does have the same distributor and it is set for the same release period, and for anyone who hears this buzz, they will definitely not be disappointed.During the premiere of the final cut (in the words of director Danny Boyle) at the Toronto International Film Festival, the audience gave the film an incredibly enthusiastic response, and it went on to win the People's Choice Award.
The acting is roundly impressive, especially coming from the younger cast, almost all of which has never acted before.The film begins as Jamal (Skins' Dev Patel) is under interrogation by Mumbai police for cheating on India's version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, being only one question away from winning it all.
I won't see a better, more exhilarating movie this year than Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire." If Academy voters have any sense, they will nominate this for Best Picture and Best Director and then vote overwhelmingly for it for both awards.Boyle has taken what is essentially a story about a young man on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and transformed it into a gritty, realistic, powerful and, at times, gut-wrenching fairy tale.
First with "Millions" (2004), which also, coincidentally, was about a young boy and money; and now with "Slumdog Millionaire." This is Boyle's masterpiece - a stunningly original piece of film-making.Every once in a while there is a sleeper film, usually an independent movie, that comes along, takes everyone by surprise, then gets terrific word of mouth and becomes a huge success.
(This film should be mandatory viewing for young people, especially those in industrialized nations.) Simon Beaufoy's script was originally entirely in English, but Boyle's decision to have the Indian kids speak in Hindi, instead, is the right call.
Boyle also stated that a portion of the Slumdog Millionaire was shot with a Canon EOS still camera, especially around the Taj Mahal, rather than a proper movie camera which creates unwanted attention while filming at popular tourist locations in India.8.2.
While "Slumdog Millionaire" is far from a Bollywood tragic love story filled with singing and dancing, the way director Danny Boyle will rivet audiences with his film that is authentic to Indian culture while using a distinctly Western style of film-making might be enough proof that there is a profit to be made here."Slumdog Millionaire" is a drama exposing the tragic effects of poverty in gigantic Indian cities like Mumbai that is also fused with a modern day Indian fairytale.
Despite being separated, Jamal and Latika are reunited several times and in fact Jamal's only motivation in life is his love for her.While the young, unknown, Indian actors are absolutely amazing in this film, the biggest kudos go to director Boyle, who creates an astonishing film.
"Slumdog" is just the beginning for Boyle who might be one of the most progressive and talented directors working today.It's hard to be completely blown away by a film whose core message is about destiny and leans on the fact that Jamal is simply fated to do this well in explaining what has unfolded, but like any good film ought to, Boyle makes you a fan of the characters and not care as much about the logistics as you might normally do.
On one hand it seems to be set in the gritty poverty of India, with descriptions of some very unpleasant scenes but then, on the other hand it was described as being uplifting and the feel-good movie of the year.
Speaking of delivery and style, the film is understandably an Oscar contender generally thanks to its upbeat nature (after darker material last year and the current downturn in the world, Oscar probably will look for some feel-good stuff) but the areas I think it stands a great chance are those of cinematography, editing and direction.
It does feel like we have the grit and style of City of God but yet also the warm uplifting story of the very best the "underdog" genre can provide.That it achieves this is a testament to how well the film is delivered because it does have to overcome the fact that the majority of the film presents us with a terrible world of poverty and suffering and then gradually pulls the main characters out of it.
You see, it is gritty and it is unpleasant and, although not based on a true story, this is a reality in our world and to see so much of it in a film that ultimately leaves you feeling good about life and happy that everything worked out alright is not a mix that sat particularly well with me.
I didn't like this part of the credits for this reason and also it would have been nice to see a film based in India that didn't feel it had to "do" Bollywood.The cast mostly play to the "fairytale" side of the film more than the grit, although the young children are very impressive in the first sections of the story.
The vision of Danny Boyle is so conceited that he feels that "Slumdog Millionaire" is his prerogative to suggest that India is nothing but a land of poor people where snake charmers merely rub shoulders with hungry elephants and crime is the only thing which pays.
Indian people are very tolerant and they are known for their artistic tastes.No one in India protested when Sir Richard Attenborough made a classic film called "Gandhi" in 1982.That was a film made by a British film.Many people in the world still admire that film for the vivid and honest description of India.Danny Boyle is also an Englishman and even this film's writer Simon Beaufoy is an English but it is a shame they way they have twisted facts to show India in a very bad light.They have completely mutilated the original material which is present in Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's book Q and A.Since a score of zero is not available,I am giving it a one our of ten as it is a really awful movie.Let me also state why this film is being liked by people in US,UK and elsewhere.Slumdog has come out at a time when Hollywood has almost run out of ideas and India is a big market for American and British products.So this movie is just a tool for Americans and Britishers to put India in a bad light to impose their ideas on Indian audience..
If the lowest vote were 0 then I would have given it to this stupid flick which has been giving innocent viewers strange ideas about poor people and India.I am really wondering why this stupid movie is compared to a classic of Brazilian cinema "City of God".To my mind it is a very false and incorrect notion.City of God was an absolute Brazilian production with Brazilian setting,Brazilian cast,Brazilian crew.Everything about it was Brazilian in nature.This film is an UK/US co production.It is made by an English man.Its producer Christian Colson is a Briton.The only thing that is Indian is its cast of poor children who must have given a couple of chocolates and a glass of cola to act.Danny Boyle has made a film which does no justice neither to Hollywood nor to Indian cinema.This is the reason why a lot of Indian people are finding his film to be an insult to their country.
But they didn't.Hence: six out of ten.P.S.: To be completely honest, I would probably rate this a seven, seven and a half tops if it weren't for the suffocating hype surrounding the film, but I feel like bringing the overall score down a notch in my own humble way, because 'Slumdog' simply doesn't deserve such a high rating.
The reasons are very simple.If you're an international audience, i.e anyone not Indian, you would love this movie for it has so much of India in it , the poverty part of Mumbai/India especially and a novel way of explaining a related story of a TV show (Millionaire) so widely popular in the world.
I wanted to see this movie for ages seeing the hype it received in many international film festivals.And I must say, while not being exactly a letdown, it did not seem to quite justify the hype.The film is modern taken on the rags-to-riches story set in Bombay,India.The bad things about the story first: The film is very predictable,you can tell the whole story of the film in approximately 10 mins.All the characters are either black or white,excepting the hero's brother.The climax was a let down,typical of bollywood films(a frantic climax where somehow everything becomes right!).And as an Indian, yes,i did find the part about "real America" offensive.Inspite of these faults,the film does strike a chord in one's heart.The cinematography is brilliant,the city of Bombay is presented in a whole new light,one can see beauty amidst squalor.A.R Rahman's music adds to the mood of the film.And finally,the movie is a triumph of human spirit,of fighting against the odds and yet surviving,and for projecting this superbly,this movie is worth a watch.No marks for plausibility though,but as the movie says " Some things are written,are meant to be".Go watch it,but put your cynical self to rest.All in all , i felt the movie was good but not worth all the Oscar hype it is getting.There are better movies coming out of bollywood then this movie.
My vote for this piece of junk is 0 out of 10.It is a politically incorrect film as its title is an insult to poor people who live in slums.Simon Beaufoy has done a bad job by mocking poor people.It is my guess that he did all this to influence audiences as the title of the original book written by Vikas Swarup is Q & A There is nothing worth seeing as Danny Boyle has copied Bollywood style of making films.His film is also a stupid flick as he has put famous Indian monument to win praises from White people who go to India only to see that monument.The entire flick is fit only to be a television soap opera.This film will not benefit Hindi cinema of India as Hollywood will always typecast Indian actors as they have been doing with actors from Hong Kong.This is a film whose success in the west will surely assure that not many tourists go to India as no one would want to go there to see poverty,crime and discrimination.This film is a kind of artistic terrorism.Stay away from it as you have been warned about its dangers..
Actually so called "Bollywood" is making these kind of films for last 60 years but very few movies are good and rational, the reason ?
Amidst of all the award hypes it managed to create in the first of half this year,i wanted to see this movie..and boy,i just started to wonder,even such a trash like this could manage to get this kind of attention from all over the world...first of all the story premise was weak and impossible...besides most of Indian characters portrayed in this film are cruel and rude..either they blind slum children and make them beggars or beat the contestant of their own show..and given a white man's picture of India, Indians either live in slums or decently dressed and work in call centres for American companies..This film has portrayed India as a corrupt,wicked country with cruelty running deep in the society...You know why, even Indian's are celebrating this movie's victory?..because they've shown their country and men with their skin color all through,in some white man's movie..they're least bothered about how he has portrayed their country..and at last,thanks to Danny Boyle for taking some Indian technicians like ARR and Resul pookutty with his WHITE MAN'S permit to the academy awards....
But I do have a problem with a story that pretends to be real when in reality it is just a masala film -- the kind we churn out by the dozens in Bollywood.Yes, Slumdog Millionaire is just superficial fluff, mainly because of its gaping plot holes.
Then it stretches reason and believability and just looks like you are packing in every negative thing that Westerners perceive about India for the sake of crowd pleasing." He goes on to propose a film about an outlandish string of events happening to an African-American boy in the US, and says, "Even though each of these incidents have actually happened in the United States of America, I would be accused of spinning a fantastic yarn that has no grounding in reality, that has no connection to the 'American experience' and my motivations would be questioned, no matter how cinematically spectacular I made my movie.
Say an Indian director traveled to New Orleans for a few months to film a movie about Jamal Martin, an impoverished African American who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina, who once had a promising basketball career, but who -- following a drive-by shooting -- now walks with a permanent limp, whose father is in jail for selling drugs, whose mother is addicted to crack cocaine, whose younger sister was killed by gang-violence, whose brother was arrested by corrupt cops, whose first born child has sickle cell anemia, and so on.
(These days, that alone is worth the price of a rental.) All in all, on an absolute scale of one to ten - with 10 being the greatest piece of cinematic art ever put to film in the history of all humankind, and a one being a piece of mindless garbage like Death Race or something similar - this movie probably rates a solid six.It's good, sure.
An audience that would like to see differences of a third world so they can ignore the shortcomings in their own backyard which is why this film was well received, lets not deny it.This movie showed waste in India but the real waste is the film itself.
He's been beaten,kidnapped,robbed and humiliated in various ways and has had to scrape and scratch for every rupee,pound and rupee as he's made his way to a safe,if perhaps lowly and disrespected ,job at a call center not far from his hometown province in Mumbai.So when he's able to somehow correctly "guess" his way through the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" on his way to a fortune(20 million rupees,which I'm guessing would equal about $5 Million American),there is more than a little suspicion and skepticism as to this "Slumdog"'s conquest of the show.Firstly,I have to say I'm probably far more aligned with those who've reviewed this that were NOT in love with this film,and I'll dispense with my reasons first and thusly: this film's central struggle--the boy Jamir's calm,almost mystic and improbably march toward the grad prize on the game show--taxes my own personal suspension of disbelief to the point of snapping.
Also,the pacing of this movie moves in such herky-jerky,stop-and-start patterns that unless a viewer is fully invested in it(which I gather many people have been),then one is either going to be agitated,distracted or even drowsy(as I was,I must confess,at one point)trying to keep up with the weaved or blended story lines.It's most principally in those reasons(plus the decidedly cultural disconnect of the sort of larger-then-life Bollywood style film-making,particularly toward the end,which may be more of a problem of my just not being greatly familiar with rather than any real quality inferiority of the show)that I cannot give better than a decent rating of this film.NOw,that having been said,why I cannot give this movie terrible reviews lie mostly in the fact(hinted in the summary line)that the movie,for all its quirks,inconsistencies and challenges to one's suspension of disbelief,STILL manages to possess human stories and conflicts that really are interesting and compelling.
I credit the actors,most notably PAtel,Freida Pinto(as the girl of his dreams,a one-time friend),Saurabh Shukla(As the highly skeptical police Sargent,charged with trying to shake down Jamir when the show gets suspicious and calls the authorities in the middle of taping),Ayush Mohammed Ismail(As young Salim,JAmal's friend),Ayush Mahesh Khedekar(As young Jamir),Rubiana Ali(As a younger LAtika)and Anil Kapoor(as the host of the "Millionaire"show,a both charismatic and yet potentially shady character)as being the ones who give this show the kind of sympathetic qualities that both salvage it for me and has made it such an emotional fan favorite elsewhere.Director DAnny Boyle,one NOT shy about incorporating dense,jarring,gross and all-around-disturbing images to his movies,does the same here,but is able to temper it with more tender,intimate and humane moments to give it the kind of fanciful,romantic spirit that it so desperately needs to make this film have any chance of walking and talking.
Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe aptly put it "I feel like I'm escaping into something that many people can't escape out of." The most telling scene of the movie in which Jamal cons a tourist reinforces British Danny Boyle's sense of superiority to American tourists and Indian slum dwellers.
It's one of those stories where all the little pieces fit together in the end to explain why things happened in the start of the film.I wouldn't have voted for this as the Best Picture Of The Year but it is entertaining and a feast for the eyes..
Danny Boyle, the director of the movie, said in an interview on Oscar night, that while he is enjoying the the popularity in India, in reality, Slumdog is a completely British film, with all the basic crewmen, concept and funding being British.Hell, right...but probably he also forgot another important thing...Dev Patel, the lead actor and hero of the movie, is a British-born Indian citizen of Britain and in all practical purposes cannot speak his mother tongue properly, let alone Hindi.
It's about the girl."Slumdog Millionaire" is a timeless love story, and the best movie of the year.
Anyone who is interested in seeing one of the best films in American history, they should view "Slumdog Millionaire" See this movie!!