Movie: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle
Co-director India: Loveleen Tandan
Writing credits: Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup (novel)
Starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Freida Pinto, Rajendranath Zutshi
Sneak shows this weekend: Village Six
Rated: R
Genre: Drama, comedy, romance
3.5 out of four stars
I've seen a couple of Hindi-English movies but nothing compares to the drama in this movie directed by Danny Boyle.
Slumdog Millionaire is not an average British drama film although there are similarities to popular love-struck Hindi movies like drama, romance and comedy.
The movie is shot in India and features notable Hindi actors like Anil Kapoor and London-born 18-year old Dev Patel star in what many consider a rare adaptation of Vikas Swarup's debut novel Q and A about a penniless waiter in Mumbai who becomes the biggest quiz show winner in history.
In Slumdog Millionaire, an impoverished Indian teen from the slums becomes a contestant on the Hindi television show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire'.
The teen Jamal Malik played by Patel defies the odds by correctly answering every single question until he is suspected of being a cheat after winning 10 million rupees.
With a question away from the grand prize of 20 million rupees, Malik is questioned by police about his answers on the show.
At first instance it seemed as though he may be a natural genius but Malik justifies each answer on the show with a childhood memory.
Memories that consist of a brief encounter with the infamous Amitabh Bachchan, holding an American 100 dollar bill or exploited as a young child to beg on the streets for a couple of con-men.
Malik's life were answers to the questions asked on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?' and director Boyle makes the transitions from the show to life in the slums easy to comprehend.
Flashback memories of life growing up in the slums of India and experiences of living an insolvent life bring an air of understanding to the plot.
It is in Slumdog Millionaire that I realised how lucky we are to have the necessities of life readily available to us.
Aerial shots of slums and surrounding areas in Mumbai depict the real India.
Slum dwellers rummage through truckloads of rubbish to find materials they could use to patch their tin homes or anything they can use to make life less difficult.
Hundreds flood the streets to get a rupee or two from well-off people and children deprived of a proper upbringing are forced to live a life of theft and lies.
While Malik's cheeky lines in between settles the tone of an impoverished India suburb, a love journey sees a determined Malik take part in the quiz show to get the attention of his love-interest Latika played by Freido Pinto.
With money being the last thing on his mind, Malik eventually finds true love on top of his 20 million rupee win.
Slumdog Millionaire is the kind of movie that makes one appreciate the little things in life.
Director Boyle has come out with a movie that's shed light on the realities of life.
A great plot, convenient cast and a touching setting make Slumdog Millionaire the movie to look out for.
