Two slumdog brothers, Jamal and Salim Matik, flee from the safety of their home in a brutally violent Hindi-Muslim uprising to an out-of-the-way train car where they invite another orphaned child, Latika, to take refuge. She becomes their "third musketeer" and ultimately the love of our hero Jamal's life as they travel through the sordid streets of Mumbai in search of food, comfort and safety. Romantic drama weaves itself melodramatically throughout this adaption of Vikas Swarup's novel "Q&A," while Boyle's direction rivets you into a crashing roller-coaster ride through the evils that pulsate beneath the lives that hopelessly scramble among the slum gods and their captives.
The forces of good versus evil are played out before India's excited television audience when Jamal (Dev Patel - young adult Jamal) is pitted against greedy game host Prim Kumar (Anil Kapoor) who is intent on discovering how this street kid continues to correctly answer each and every one of his Millionaire questions. Through a kaleidescope of flashbacks, Jamal's life experiences reveal his intimate knowledge of each and every question, while overnight, the police are directed to use incredible brutality and force to make Jamal reveal how he is cheating the show. All of India watches in expectation, hoping beyond belief that their favorite will win the jackpot and rise above his devastating poverty to a life of ease.
This movie is an unexpected adventure of love and survival embraced by the melodic sounds of India's famed A. R. Rahman. The three phases of the children's lives are performed by different actors. Jamal is portrayed by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as the youngest Jamal, by Tanay Chheda as the pre-teen Jamal, and Dev Patel as the young adult Jamal. Young adult Latika is played by beautiful Freida Pinto, while Rubiana Ali portrays the younger Latika, and Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar as the pre-teen Latika. Madhur Mittal portrays young adult Salim, while Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail played the younger Salim, and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala was the pre-teen Salim. Both Tanay Chheda and Rubiana Ali were both slum children from Mumbai which has led to some controversy, however, the children have been given trust funds to relieve them from their poverty.
Special features include a making-of featurette with Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, and others which portrayed the challenges the crew experienced while filming; a healthy number of deleted scenes which did expand on the depth of the story and definitely are worth watching; enlightening commentaries with Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, Christian Colson and Writer Simon Beaufoy; and finally, a music mash-up called Slumdog Cutdown.
I found Slumdog Millionaire a perfect marriage of Hollywood and Bollywood and with love of song and dance being a strong foundation of Indian culture, I found the concluding signature musical number a fun way to end the movie in the true Bollywood fashion. I am completely entertained by Indian movies and implore them to use more English subtitles on their DVD's. America has embraced India socially and politically, and I pray that this cinematic union will do much to blend the barriers and provide an understanding of our two worlds.
There was much criticism over the movie in India, Europe, and America. Newsweek's Sudip Mazumdar wrote: "People keep praising the film's 'realistic' depiction of slum life in India. But it's no such thing. Slum life is a cage. It robs you of confidence in the face of the rich and the advantaged. It steals your pride, deadens your ambition, limits your imagination and psychologically cripples you whenever you step outside the comfort zone of your own neighborhood. Most people in the slums never achieve a fairy-tale ending." Maybe with this marriage of East and West, some of these people can hope and expect a "Cinderella ending" through the success of Jamal's journey.
