Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Danny Boyle

Country

UK

Cast

Dev Patel, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanay Chheda, Freida Pinto, Rubina Ali, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Madhur Mittal, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Mahesh Manjrekar, ANkur Vikal, Rajendranath Zutshi, Sanchita Choudhary, Mia Drake Inderbitzin, Siddhesh Patil, Arfi Lamba, Shruti Seth

Storyline

Eighteen year old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) reflects on his upbringing in the slums when he is accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

Opinion

I am not the Bollywood films kind of person, but this one was highly acclaimed and it's Danny Boyle's so after almost 10 years I eventually watched it. And I'm so glad I did.

"Slumdog Millionaire" is far from a Bollywood tragic love story filled with singing and dancing like I was expecting, it instead is an energetic, engaging and bittersweet drama that has a lot to say.

The story isn't one that has been told and retold over and over again. It is very fresh and engaging. It is moving, romantic, violent, desperate and fantastic all at once. And it's so well put together than even the predictable, clichéd end is pleasing to watch.

The use of flashback to tell Jamal's life, and thus the lives of many, many children in the Indian slums, is brilliant and works perfectly to fully engage the viewer and make one care about the film's main character. 

Danny Boyle uses that fictitious story and those flashbacks to show the world the lives of those who live in misery and poverty, regardless of where they are geographically located, whether is India, like in the film, or Africa, or South America.

The editing, the cinematography and Danny Boyle's direction - all three righteously awarded with an Academy Award - create a fascinating look that suits the story perfectly.

The acting is quite impressive, especially from the younger cast, especially from the three actors that portray Jamal, Dev Patel, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Tanay Chheda.