Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire, the film which took the world by storm, in all its pride and glory by sweeping awards in various awards ceremony. One might wonder, what is this film that received hundreds of recognition and applause from the West but had provoked dismay and indignation from India?

The movie starts off with a question while scenes of Jamal being interrogated and tortured by a police officer flashes through.

Jamal is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it?
A. He cheated.
B. He's lucky.
C. He's a genius.
D. It is written.

Quickly, the scene jumps to the game show, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" hosted by Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor), who isn't really keen on Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) winning his way through to 20 million rupees, as he is shocked by how a slum dweller, a "chai-wallah" (a young man who serves tea) could possibly answer all the questions.

The story unfolds here, and all the actions start rolling, conveyed mostly through flashbacks documenting his childhood, that he managed to answer all questions by recalling things that happened in his life.

Watching Slumdog Millionaire is like travelling through the slums of India, the dark side of India that is rarely been shown on the big screen. Every house, every shop is closely packed together, separated only by narrow paths and surrounded by heavily polluted sea or river, and even wastelands. and then Jamal's and Salim's mother was killed right before their eyes, because of a Muslim-Indian riot, leaving them to be orphans and meeting Latika.

Children begging on the streets manipulated by ruthless, scheming men (who seemed all nice to the children). Blinding a child with a hot metal spoon for his talent as blind singers earn double. Jamal and his brother, Salim, eking out a living, travelling on trains, selling goods, pretending to be tour guides at the Taj Mahal, and even pickpocketing.

One scene i found it quite difficult to digest was mineral waters were actually filled by water from the pipes into an empty used mineral bottle, later to be sealed closed by glue. yuck!

Despite a film that pictures such unspeakable horror and astonishing moments, you can't help but being overwhelmed by a gush of emotion, a good one, odd but true. You can't resist but smile as Jamal climbs his way up to the 20 million rupees. How the 2 brothers wonderfully fraud their way through to survive, shaking your heads at the same time, like how do they manage to do that! and Jamal's true love lost and found, several times.

Somehow, i love how the film transports back and forth, the series of flashbacks, back to the game show and back to the police department. The editing of this film is beautifully done, running scenes wonderfully captured, exhibiting a breathtaking and engaging tale with fast tracking shots, jump cuts, and amazing visuals.

It is indeed a film that is full with energy, it might even be overloaded at some point as some critics would say. Optimistic too, as we are shown of the trials and tribulations Jamal has to go through and yet little exhaustion or complaints are shown. He just doesn't seem to care about the money and all he wants is Latika (Freida Pinto), his true love, which is the reason why he participated in the game show as it is Latika's favourite show. The film is fast-paced and at moments it slows down for us to reconnect to the characters, like when Jamal walking through the prostitution street looking for Latika, and later on in a mobster's house (where his brother is working for), where Latika is kept as a mistress.

Lastly, the suspense is still maintained as Jamal is 1 question away from winning 20 million rupees. This dangles above us deliciously as we ponder, will he strike the jackpot and get his girl, or just his girl only. However, it is just like "killing two birds with one stone" incidentally, as he gets the money and of course his beloved. and i was so overwhelmed that he actually won, very delighted, i thought he was gonna lose it all! but how did Latika escaped from the gangster? with Salim's help (i think he's good at heart, remember that time he saved Jamal from being blinded, all he wants is a good life) and he was killed as the consequence of releasing Latika even though he managed to execute his boss.

Wait, how can i even forget the child actors. A round of applause for them as they did a wonderful job portraying Salim, Jamal and Latika respectively. and they had to do all the action, the running scenes especially. Although the film comprises of relatively unknown casts (Dev Patel from Skins, Freida Pinto, she's beautiful) the performances from every actors were very good.

IMO, the ending was abit incomplete. So did Jamal find out about his brother's death? He didn't want to avenge his brother's death? because after everything he is finally reunited with Latika, that is all he wants huh. and what was that cheesy line, Jamal, "It's our destiny." "Kiss me", said Latika. LOL! XD

and hey, just don't leave the cinema after that kiss okay, stay a while to catch that Bollywood dance with A.R. Rahman's song, "Jai Ho". Interesting!

A rags to riches film, quite original and authentic, although it is based on the book "Q & A". and what was that answer to the question in the beginning of the film?

D. It is written.

Jamal's destiny.

Slumdog Millionaire, one of the best films in 2008. go watch it.

Edited* It secured 8 freaking Oscars with 10 nominations.