The 2008 drama was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Simon Beafoy, who adapted it from Vikas Swarup’s novel; Q & A ( 2005 ). It’s the story of Jamal ( Dev Patel ) a young Indian man whose won 20 million Rupees on a game show. Only problem is, he’s held captive by the police because nobody EVER wins.
PLOT:
The film starts out showing Jamal at the first couple of questions. Warm up questions really. Stuff the majority of Indians could probably answer. Afterwards we swap back and forth between the game, him being interview by the police, lead by Irrfan Khan along with his rough childhood and teenage days.
As a child, Jamal had it rough. He didn’t even have access to a proper bathroom. Instead opting for a wooden building with a hole in the floor. Later his Mother dies during the Bombay ( now called Mumbai ) riots. Afterwards Jamal and his brother Salim flee, eventually finding a girl named Latika ( Rubina Ali ) who joins the two on their quest to not die of starvation. long story short they travel a bit, avoid some Oliver Twist type thief trainers, and Salim claims Latika for himself. Drawing Jamal out by gunpoint.
Years later, Jamal is working at a call-center, which pretends to be stationed in Edinburgh. Tired of his living standards, he “auditions” to be a contestant on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ( 20 times over )”. The grand prize? 20 Million Indian Rupee, which nowadays isn’t even worth $300.000., though I’m sure that sum means a lot more in a country like India. He later tracks a now adult Lakita ( Freida Pinto ), whose unfortunately married to Salim ( Madhur Mittel ). Seeing how poorly he treats her, he begs her to leave him and run away, to which she refuses.
The rest of the film resolves around the various questions Jamal needs to solve.
CONCLUSSION:
Overall, Slumdog Millionaire is a smart romantic-thriller does a good job at balancing it’s timelines. Good job Danny Boyle. 7.8/10.
-The Screenwriter