Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog
Millionaire

Intense and Interesting
Nilda F. Andrews

Slumdog Millionaire – Fox Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Fox’s division of independent films has done it again by producing a riveting tale of the unlikeliest of candidates. A former Mumbai (then called Bombay) street beggar, becoming a local television hero by correctly answering the game show host’s questions and steadily climbing the ladder of rupee winnings. Convinced that Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel) is cheating, the host has him thrown in jail. Even though tortured, he refuses to confess because as he says, “I knew the answers.” He then tells the police inspector how he knew how to respond to the questions India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presented him. As he explains, his life unfolds in a sequence of flashbacks.

Misfortunes of Existence

The camera pans on a gang of young boys playing on what looks like a large playing field when a swarm of policemen begin shouting and chasing the boys. It is Mumbai’s airport landing field. The boys scatter every which way—the police close behind…so begins the story of Jamal and his brother Salim and the misfortunes of their existence.
To add to their plight, extremists, who are “cleansing” the slum of Muslims, kill their mother. Now orphaned, they allow a young girl who has suffered the same fate join them. They then go where the impoverished gather to find whatever they can to survive—whether it is rotting food, tattered clothing or trinkets they can sell—the massive garbage dump of Mumbai. It is a staggering scene, all the more so, because it is a reality of life. There is also a sequence straight out of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. The trio is hoodwinked into thinking they are going to an orphanage only to find they are pawns in a street beggar’s scheme where the bounty is handed over to the thugs running it. One scene is too brutal to watch.

Calculating and Contemptuous

The game show is the necessary hook to make the story succeed, but I found myself wondering if Meredith Vieira is as calculating and contemptuous as portrayed by Anil Kapoor’s character. And, what justification did he have in getting Jamal arrested. Improbably, each game show question is related to an incident in Jamal’s life. It seems like the writer’s manipulative tactic to develop his story. These are kitchen questions, but in the end, they were minimized into the sphere of suspension of disbelief. The movie works because the flashbacks are so intense and interesting that you want to know more and cannot fathom how he has survived. And, you want him to.

Personal Reflection

Seeing this movie on the heels of India’s latest tragedy in present-day Mumbai gave me pause to reflect on not only the senselessness of the terrorists’ motives in killing innocent victims, but also on the senselessness of the poverty that surrounds those same posh 5-star hotels. I cannot equate the murder of guiltless persons with the destitution of poverty-stricken individuals as portrayed in the film, but there seems to be a paradox about the cruelty humans inflict on one another—in one case deliberately and in the other as a result of being born into the lower echelons of a society.

Good Pace and Very Satisfying
by Ron Smith

Orphaned in the Slums Of India

This is the story of a young man, 18-year-old Jamal Malik. He is an orphan who grew up in the terrible slums of Mumbai, India.

The movie starts as Jamal is being tortured with electric shock, water board and other horrendous devices.

We soon find out his only crime is that he is one question away from winning 20,000,000 Rupees on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That’s $403,429 American dollars. In today’s dollars, tomorrow?

Arrested For Fraud

Jamal is in the police station and has been arrested for fraud. After all, how could a Slumdog orphan know the answer to the questions that have been asked? Not even the most educated contestant in the history of the show has gotten as far as Jamal. He must be cheating right? But how? The police will get to the truth even if it kills Jamal.

A Tale of Misery and Sorrow

The story unfolds with Jamal chained to a chair in the police station as a video of the show is playing on the television. In between questions on the screen Jamal tells his story of how he knows the answers, the story flashbacks to the story and back to the present throughout the film. I learned in screenwriting that flashbacks slow the story down, but in this movie they keep you on the edge of your seat, every scene keeps you glued to the screen.

Gotta pee? Too bad.
Jamal weaves a tale of misery, sorrow, love lost and found and lost again and even a little laughter. The police cannot figure out how Jamal is cheating, so he goes back to the T.V. station to answer the final question to win or lose the big money and fame.

Remember when Lucy Ricardo had her baby and every T.V. in America was tuned to the show? Well every T.V. in India is tuned in to the show to see if Jamal answers the final question and wins the money. Every slum has a T.V on a garbage heap or a dumpster, every fine restaurant, even in the police station. And everyone is rooting for Jamal. Well not everyone, but that’s in the story too.

But you know why Jamal is on the show? Not to win the money, he could care less about the money, the reason he is there is because…. Damn I shouldn’t have drunk all that water. You will have to see this amazing movie for yourself to find out.

The acting is very good; you connect with the characters and want them to succeed. The story moves at a good pace and the life in India for children, and poor people is something you have to see to believe. This is a very satisfying movie. Stay for the credits.

Take your kids and the next time they complain about not enough fries in the happy meal, SLAP EM!

This movie has violence, strong language and sexual situations

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