Slumdog Millionaire has evoked great enthusiasm and curiosity among the human folk for the sole reason that the movie earned 4 Golden Globes and bagged 7 Oscar nominations, definitely not a mean achievement for any movie considering the glam quotient of these events.
This made me ponder over the exceptional quality of the movie and I decided to watch it for the sheer curiosity. What makes the movie a bit different *from others in the same genre is the sheer grit and will power of the central character Dev *Jamal Patel, how he grows up to be a chai *supplier in a call center, how he enters the show *Who Wants to be a Millionaire and wins the coveted two million. The entire story is based on how Jamal knew the answers to the seemingly ‘knowledgeable’ questions.
Jamal in his younger days is an urchin in one of the slums of Mumbai living a life of almost inconsequential non-existence. His days are spent playing cricket with his older brother, Salim & other likeminded urchins on a remote airstrip near by the slum, fantasizing about the *Big B, *other routine slum like things.
What makes the story run are the next sequence of events which begin with the riots where you know which guys target which other guys in the name of, sigh, religion. Jamal’s mother is killed and fire engulfs their home. Jamal and big bro escape to safer havens(slums) where they meet *Latika, *another urchin who has met a similar fate. Thus begins their association, while Jamal is soft towards Latika, Salim seethes with hatred/anger/whatever you can choose to call it.
Now begins the actual Q&A session of the show. Each question on the show throws a flashback at Jamal’s life on how he came to know the answers for them. Some of the question and answers have a very powerful back draft. The most mesmerizing ones are Who composed the bhajan “Darshan do Ghansham”? Whose face do you see on a$100 bill? Who invented the revolver?
The storyline attempts to be different in how Jamal learnt the answers by being street smart rather than have the privilege of study and mug. In between the story, Jamal and Latika’s love interest is sprinkled upon for more charm. Anil Kapoor plays the host of the extravagant show and he does a very good job of showing in his expressions on how he loathes the fact that a person like Jamal is going on to win. Irfan Khan plays a police officer who is in charge of investigating if Jamal really cheated? In a blink-and-you-will-miss role is Mahesh Manjrekar who plays the local don who patronizes the grown up Salim and uses Latika for pleasurable purpose.
The most powerful moments of the movie are the flashbacks and how Jamal learnt ways of the world. Dev Patel has essayed the role very well. Frieda Pinto(as Latika) doesn’t have much to do. Danny Boyle has succeeded in portraying a good story on the scene. Some of the repulsive scenes are of the slum shots and one particular scene when Jamal is doing his morning’s nature business. The overly abject filth shown made me cringe. Maybe it could have been avoided, maybe the director wanted it.
Slumdog Millionaire *is definitely worth a watch, but is it Oscar material when compared to Lagaan or Taare Zameen Par, is worth a debate. Watch the movie for the sheer pleasure of a street smart Jamal.