Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Director: Danny Boyle
Story: Simon Beaufoy (based on the book by Vikas Swarup)
Cast: Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor 
Music: A.R. Rahman
Time: 120 minutes
Bottom-line: A fast paced drama, with a unique story, great screenplay and music

From the director of Trainspotting comes this blockbuster, Slumdog Millionaire. This is a rags-to-riches to story, as the oxymoron title says. Starring Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto in the lead, this film is the story of how a boy from a slum in Mumbai goes on to win a fortune at a quiz show. With unique cinematography, music and great direction and storytelling by Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire proves to be more than just an ordinary drama film.

The story is shown in three timelines: one timeline (Mumbai 2006) where Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is interrogated at a police station by an inspector (Irrfan Khan). Another timeline is the quiz show, which is shown on tape at the police station. The third timeline is shown as Jamal’s thoughts about his childhood and his life as he grows up. The present scenario is this: 26 year old Jamal Malik, a man from the Juhu slum, is one question away from winning 20 million rupees at a quiz show called ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’, hosted by Prem Kumar (Kapoor). Before he can answer the last question, the inspector arrests and interrogates Jamal on how he answered all the questions, as even doctors or professors on the show have not even won a million rupees on the show. So, Jamal tells his story. As the story progresses, we see that each of the answers is provided by an incident in Jamal’s life. In his childhood, he had a brother, Salim, and a friend Latika, who later becomes very close to Jamal. His story begins at the age of five, when he gets the autograph of Amitabh Bachchan, and goes on till his adulthood. The rest of the film covers the story of Jamal, and how he gets the answers to his questions. The film also tells whether or not he wins the twenty million rupees and whether or not he gets together with Latika.

Patel  as Jamal and Pinto as Latika

I have explained the gist of the story. The only things that I haven’t explained are the incidents that lead Jamal to finding the right answer. You have to watch the film to find that out for yourselves. The plot is very good. There is a strong bond between Jamal and Latika from their childhood, and throughout the film, Jamal never forgets her. This powerful romance is what drives the film most of the way.

The non-linear narrative structure is used in the film. As I said, there are three tracks and all of them are interspersed. I especially like the way Jamal’s story has been told to the viewers. Instead of just showing a flashback or finding it written in a diary or something, here, we get to know about his story mainly because of the quiz show. The questions that are asked in the show are pretty believable questions, I mean, they can be asked in any quiz show, and it does not look like these questions are chosen according to Jamal’s past. And I also like the way Jamal’s life has been shown. I don’t know whether the questions were first chosen and then Jamal’s story or vice-versa, but either way, both the tracks are well connected. His story is also a fairly believable one, and not an extraordinary one. All the questions are answered through some incidents of his life, as I said, and these incidents are also realistic and very much probable. We find evidence that Jamal has only learnt through experience, and not through education. For example, he is able to tell whose face is there on the hundred dollar US bill, but he cannot answer a question that the inspector asks him about whose face is shown on the thousand rupee note. 

The adult Salim

The young Salim and Jamal

The acting is very good. Only Irrfan Khan and Anil Kapoor were already professional actors before this film, and all others, except one or two, were new to acting. Dev Patel and Pinto have done extremely well. The actors who portrayed the young and adolescent Jamal, Salim and Latika have all acted in a great manner. Except Tanay Chheda (adolescent Jamal), all the other children were from actual slums in India. Sources say that Boyle gave the children cell phones clothes etc for acting in the film. So, all this makes the film more authentic in terms of portrayal of slums.

The music and score are fantastic. The score is good, but the main standout in terms of music, in this film, is the song Jai Ho. The song comes in the last five minutes of the film, along with the closing credits (and this kind of gives a hint how the film is going to end). The rhythm of the song, the background music given by many instruments, the choreography, all are fantastic. Along with the score, the filming is also excellent. Lots of unique camera angles: some shots from a bird’s eye view, some from a worm’s eye view, many close-ups, and many scenes taken at a slanting angle etc. The quiz show has shot exactly like the actual quiz show which came on TV: Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.

The climax: Jai Ho!

There are only a few drawbacks about this film. One: though the film is realistic and authentic in every other way, the only thing which doesn’t add to the authenticity is the characters speaking English. I am not saying that they can’t, but when a guy from a slum, with no formal education, speaks perfect English, it kind of looks weird. Anyway, I am not discriminating against people by saying that they cannot learn English, but I am just expressing my opinion that the dialogues could have been in Hindi itself (of course, then Boyle would never have directed it). In Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, most of the dialogues in the film are in German or French, but that is because the actors themselves and the characters are from France or Germany. Here, both the actors and the characters are Indian.

Another drawback is the portrayal of India in the film. While films that are of Indian origin show many of the corrupt practices in India, they also show someone trying to abolish them. Here, only the bad things that take place in India are shown, and not the good ones. People seeing this film -and who have not been in India before- are more likely to think that India is a land of slums, beggars, crooks, criminals etc. This kind of creates a worldwide negative impact of India. You can say that all this adds to the authenticity, but though I took this film lightly, I just feel that not so much of the dark side of India should be shown on screen. 

Yet, with all its positive qualities, Slumdog Millionaire is a masterpiece that shines out in many aspects. Great music, acting, plot and screenplay make this film a must-watch romantic drama. If you are an Indian like me, don’t get affected by this film, but take it lightly. Watch this film only for the good qualities. The song Jai Ho may not match with Rahman’s more classical Indian film songs, but it will certainly impress you.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%