When you watch Danny Boyle’s latest rags-to-riches fairy tale “Slumdog Millionaire,” you’ll experience an emotional roller-coaster ride that only Mumbai can offer. The city that never sleeps, the city that is the center of the world (as mentioned by Salim in the movie), the city with an economic and social contrast ratio of 20,000,000:1 gradually reveals itself on the screen with all its color and darkness. Danny Boyle and his screen writer Simon Beaufoy (based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup) has masterfully crafted the film using the Indian version of the television game show “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”
Indian slums and street life has been explored by many international film makers like Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay) and Roland Joffe (City of Joy) amongst others, but Slumdog brings to life the dark as well as the bright side of the city of Mumbai in a style that is shocking and heart warming at the same time.
The story of Jamal, an uneducated “chai-wallah” (tea salesman) in a modern high-tech call center who is on the verge of winning the highly coveted two crore (twenty million) rupees award money, is indeed a fairy tale. It is so unbelievable that the show host (Anil Kapoor) gets him arrested to find out how this boy can cheat his way through to the correct answers. Fortunately for Jamal, the answers to the questions comes from his life experiences and not from any books – the vivid memories of his life in the slums and streets of Mumbai – his struggle for existence along with his brother Salim at the foot of the Tajmahal, and finally in his search for the love of his life – Latika! Ironically, the final question comes from the book “Three Musketeers” by Alexander Dumas, that he and his brother had only started to read during his limited encounter with school. He calls his “Life Line” – his brother and Latika, but they fail to answer either. Hence Jamal gives in to destiny – and once again gambles his life in front of millions of television viewers.
The performances by all the lead characters were heartfelt and spontaneous, especially the performance of the children in the first half on the movie. The music by A. R. Rahman has helped heighten the emotions and the final song and dance scene during the credits was a treat.
The film, although extremely enjoyable, has sometimes gone overboard and simplified many of the complex issues. The film does contains some strong imagery, some quite disturbing, and some very heartwarming. Special kudos to the cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle for the gorgeous photography and the editor Chris Dickens for maintaining the breakneck pace of the film that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
More Stories
Five Quick and Easy Steps to Learning Recitative
Capitulate Your Senses, Begin by Changing or Fine-Tuning Something That Is Perceived Daily
The Waterboys Biography and Top 10 Songs