Slumdog Millionaire

Year: 2008
Running time: 120 minutes
Certificate: 15
Language: English
Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Tanay Chheda, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Freida Pinto, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Rubina Ali, Madhur Mittal, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Anil Kapoor, Sanchita Choudhary, Mahesh Manjrekar, Saurabh Shukla, Irrfan Khan

Jamal is hoping to win something more valuable than 
mere money.

I wonder if I’m one of the only people that wasn’t really thrilled at the prospect of a film based on a book (Vikas Swarup's Q & A) based on a TV quiz show. Even if Danny Boyle, who has an excellent, if not perfect, track record was directing it. Even if it had an interesting twist of being set in India's slums. Even a five-star review from Empire didn’t heighten my interest. Eventually I caught it on DVD. I always understood the meaning of the phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’ but after watching Slumdog Millionaire I got a whole new appreciation of it. The film is just wonderful, deserving of all the critical praise and Oscars heaped upon it.

Jamal (Dev Patel) is on the verge of winning the top prize on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Suspected of cheating, he is bundled into a van and questioned by suspicious police officers (Sarubh Shukla and Irrfan Khan). Questioned with a wet sponge and an electric current, that is. As Jamal explains how he knows the answer to each of the questions we are taken on a remarkable journey, recounting Jamal’s life, starting when he was just a child (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) of the slums getting covered in shit for a chance to meet a celebrity. Another answered question is explained by the harrowing murder of his mother (Sanchita Choudhary), forcing him onto the streets with his brother Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail), where they meet Latika, (Rubina Ali) who the young Jamal is besotted with.

As Jamal’s life story is told, we follow the young boys grow up (each of the main characters Jamal, Salim and Latika are played by three actors of different ages), embarking on some ingenious business ventures (like faking it as tour guides at the Taj Mahal, robbing unwary tourists), and we see them get mixed up with guns, gangsters (led by the thoroughly unpleasant Javed (Mahesh Manjrekar)) and a group of people who run the begging street kids like a business, thinking nothing of burning out a young boy’s eyes to increase the chances of people taking pity on him. It is not an easy watch at times, but despite these distressing moments, the film is unabashedly positive, a tribute to the wonderful resilience of kids despite living in the harshest conditions, and a love story following Jamal’s lifelong pursuit of Latika (Freida Pinto, who is so gorgeous here as to be almost unreal) who grows up to be mixed up, along with Salim (Madhur Mittal), with Javed and his gang.

Latika, the love of young Jamal's life.

One of the things that make this so special is the cinematography, saturating the streets of India with bright and vibrant colours, filmed using digital handheld cameras to make the visuals astonishingly striking (a technique that doesn't always work - see Public Enemies). Danny Boyle’s films are often characterised by their flamboyantly energetic camerawork, but Slumdog Millionaire is by far the best example of just how effective his technique can be - in particular the montage set to MIA's Paper Planes is as mesmerising as it is breathless.

Another big plus is the outstanding cast. Dev Patel (fresh off the first season of Channel 4's Skins) comes across as a bright-eyed lively presence, as streetwise in some things as he is naive in others. It really is impossible not to root for him. The support is just as strong, particularly the kids who play the younger versions of the characters and Bollywood hero Anil Kapoor playing the Indian version of Chris Tarrant with scene-stealing sneakiness, determined to prevent this uppity slumdog getting the top prize.

So despite my initial misgivings, this film is beautiful, striking and wonderful and as exciting as an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire is dull.

Score: 9/10

Roger Ebert would seem to agree, but this review by Vince at Qwipster suggests it's merely good, not great.