To most Americans, Mumbai, India, is a place synonymous with the violence and terror we witnessed on the network news stations following the terrorist attacks late last year.
However, few of us could have believed it could also be a place of love, fortune and destiny.
Those are the themes of Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan’s film “Slumdog Millionaire.” Based on Vikas Swarup’s book “Q&A,” it chronicles the saga of Jamal Malik, a boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai to find himself on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” not to win money, but to impress the love of his life, Latika, played by first-time actress and model, Freida Pinto.
So far, the movie has captivated audiences and critics everywhere. “Slumdog” recently took home four awards at the Golden Globes, including Best Director, Best Motion Picture-Drama, Best Original Score in a Motion Picture and Best Screenplay. The film will surely be in contention not only in the foreign film category but also for the best picture award come Oscar season.
The film is shown not in chronological order, but in a series of flashbacks. The night before Malik is supposed to go on his second night of “Millionaire,” which is also the night he must answer the $1 million question, he is arrested under the suspicion of cheating because no one thought someone from the slums could know the answers to the more difficult questions on the show. However, as he is questioned by the authorities, Malik relives his life and how he came to be a contestant on the show.
Throughout Malik’s retelling of the story, we see stunning visuals of the India never shown on television or described in books. Instead, we are painted a picture of the India where the slums sprawl in major urban cities beyond the horizon. Boyle and Tandan focus the story on how Jamal and his older brother, Salim, deal with going to school, cope with poverty and the eventual death of their mother in the violent clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities throughout India.
After their mother dies, Jamal and Salim become peddlers and petty thieves as they try to survive in the slums of Mumbai. This is when they first meet Latika, who is also orphaned. A man named Maman takes them from the slums and uses them to beg in the streets of Mumbai to make money for the slumlord. However, when Jamal is in danger of being blinded by Maman, he and his brother escape but do so at the cost of losing Latika.
Fast-forward through several years of begging and leading tourists on fake tours of the Taj Mahal, and Salim and Jamal return to Mumbai to find Latika. When they do, the three are briefly reunited before the two brothers take separate paths. Salim becomes the muscle for a local mobster, who is also Latika’s boyfriend. When Jamal finds her again, he does everything possible to get her back, which eventually brings her on the game show.
While the story captivates, it is also insight into the life of many Indians who do what they can to get out of the slums. When Jamal goes on the show, he becomes the hero of those trying to follow the same path as he has and trying to make the jump from poverty. As Jamal prepares to answer the final question for a $1 million, we see shots from all over India as people tune in to watch, similar to when people all over the United States tuned in to watch John Carpenter answer his final question to become the first $1 million winner in the United States.
The connection the people of India have with Jamal resonates so well with film-goers in the United States because we have all had the same experience. We idolize people who make it from rags to riches and see them as a ray of light for ourselves. It makes all of us feel, no matter what happens, that we can all be a tea server from Mumbai, become a millionaire and eventually end up in a brightly-colored dance sequence with the love of our life.
5 stars out of 5.
