Movie Review : Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Mahesh Manjrekar, Saurabh Shukla and Ankur Vikal
Dharavi boy Jamal Malik, server of ‘chai’, keeper of secrets, is one of the wise. He’s learnt his wisdom on the streets, and he uses it to become a millionaire.
The film has the popular show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire at the centre. A contestant on the show, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is on his way to winning the prize money. He answers each question correctly but behind every answer there is a story.
A story which shocks, awes and reveals his life and love. Quizzing him on the show is Prem (Anil Kapoor), getting out the truth is the Inspector (Irrfan Khan), living in hope is Latika (Freida Pinto), regretting his act is Salim (Madhur Mittal) and slowly unfolding it all is Jamal (Salim). What finally transpires is an easy guess.
To get back on the show for the final question — by explaining to the dubious police inspector (Irfan Khan) how he came to know what he does — Jamal has to tell him the story of his life, a story which, in true Frank Capra fashion, chance, luck, suffering and street smarts all play major parts.
Jamal’s companion in most things is his older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), a hard-headed cynic where Jamal is a passionate dreamer, the kind of kid who is willing, in one of the film’s most piquant scenes, to wade through the offal from an outhouse to get to his hero, Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan.
As Jamal describes the specific incidents that led to his being able to answer each of the quiz show questions, he is simultaneously telling several stories, tales of the link between brothers, the never-ending battle with poverty, the lure and pitfalls of crime and the rapid modernization of India.
The film brings a smile to your face and a tear to your eye. It makes you acknowledge the little boy who taps your car window for money, it acknowledges the fact that evil lives in the same place as good, and it recognizes love, hate, power and destiny.
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