Cast: Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Imran Hasnee, Shruti Seth, Saurabh Shukla, Raj Zutshi and others Director:Danny Boyle Producer:Christian Colson, Tessa Ross, Paul Smith Music:A.R.Rahman Date of Released:January 22nd 2009
'Slumdog Millionaire' is one of the best English films set in India and revolving around the country's most
popular metropolis Mumbai. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle makes Mumbai look beautiful inspite of
showing the shadiest of slums, asylums, filthy sewage and garbage disposal places of the city! It works
because Anthony not just captures the locales but also manages to catch the sound, smell and pace of the city
which keeps moving in spite of all odds. It shows victory and triumph of human spirit with a backdrop of tragedy
and in times of acute poverty which makes it a feel good film.
Story:
The film begins with cops (Irrfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla) interrogating an 18 year old Jamal (Dev Patel,
decent) who they believe has cheated in the Indian version of quiz show ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire'. The
suspicion arises from Jamal's street-kid upbringing and poverty stricken background. How can an uneducated
orphan dwelling in slums win a quiz show! The day before Jamal is slated to answer the 2 Crore rupee question,
he is dragged to the police station to confess his cheating.
Here, the film begins to unfold as Jamal narrates his past life and proves how each chapter of his life helped
him answer the questions of the show. It is here that Danny impressively shuttles between past and present,
injecting provocative flashbacks in the film which captures Jamal's vibrant childhood to his current day life
journey.
Jamal's emotional upheaval after losing his mother and childhood sweetheart Latika, his tryst with destiny and
differences with brother Salim then form the story of Slumdog, rather a success story of Jamal who wins against
all odds. Boyle's filmmaking focuses on Jamal's rags to riches story rather than highlighting his ghastly and
grotesque surroundings, thus making the film's theme global.
Music:
AR Rahman's hypnotic music deserves a special mention. Jai Ho, Ringa Ringa and all the background scores
are simply mesmerising.
Performance:
Child actors Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (as young Jamal), Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (Salim) are the soul of
Slumdog Millionaire...brilliant casting by Loveleen Tandan. Madhur Mittal is excellent as the grown-up Salim and
Dev Patel is decent. Freida Pinto does justice to her small but pivotal role. Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan have
nothing great to do but make an impression.
Verdict:
'Slumdog Millionaire' presents you a simple tale of survival, love and longing set in Mumbai. Danny Boyle's
immaculate encapsulation of Mumbai without diluting its essence is what makes Slumdog an absolutely brilliant
film.
