Some films aren't about to let viewers off the hook easily - some films want you to work for a happy ending. 'Slumdog Millionaire' is that kind of film. There's a happy ending skulking around in the shadows of this underdog tale. In order to reach it, you have to travel through the thick and crime-infested slums of Mumbai, India.
For company, we have Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18-year-old who's been experiencing a stretch of good fortune lately on the Indian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'
Jamal carves out a living serving tea at a local call center, but tonight, he's one question away from walking out a millionaire.
As the country gears up to hear Jamal's final answer, some onlookers have grown suspicious. Jamal is a slumdog, after all - a kid from the Mumbai ghetto. How could he, with no formal education to speak of, be one question away from winning the grand prize?
The show's host (played to smug perfection by Anil Kapoor) certainly isn't buying it. He's convinced that Jamal has figured out a way to cheat the system. And at his behest, the police have decided to do something about it.
It's a rare film that can open with scenes of torture and camera falsa still maintain its feel-good destination, but 'Slumdog' stays on course. Jamal won't confess to anything under torture - mostly because he's been beaten into unconsciousness - so the police lieutenant (Irrfan Khan) sent to investigate tries a different approach.
With a video recording of the show before them, he demands that Jamal account for each response. What the lieutenant ends up with is more than just an explanation. He gets Jamal's life story.
Adapted from the novel by Vikas Swarup, camera holder 'Slumdog Millionaire,' envisions a childhood for its leading man that is less than ideal, even if it is visually picturesque. These visions are of huddled shacks, camera installation pay-as-you-go outhouses and community watering holes where women gather to chat and do their laundry.
This may be squalor, but young Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) and his brother Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail) don't seem to mind. They still indulge in happy pastimes, from hero-worship of a Bollywood movie star to playing pranksdodging grown-ups. In one incredible scenethey race through the streets of Mumbai as the camera pulls away for an aerial view of the city's many tin-roofed shacks.
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