Slumdog Millionaire

            Wow, this movie is another triumph from Danny Boyle (Dir. Sunshine) and this time, he has received the much-deserved Oscar for best picture. And really, it’s quite a masterpiece to a person that has seen India.

            It’s the story of a young man, Jamal, from the slums of Mumbai who finds himself on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And after getting to the penultimate round, he is arrested and interrogated, believed to be cheating, for there is serious doubt that a slumdog could know all the answers.

            So it is in prison that he recounts why he is on the show in the first place, and how many of the answers came to him through his upbringing in the ghettos. And from there we see his story as he grows up and experiences some of the horrors of modern India. In the slums, his mother is killed in Hindu-Muslim violence. From there, he is taken in by a child-begger pimp, who plots to turn him into a blind singer until he escapes.

            In the process, he meets Latika, who he swears he will marry. From there, he becomes a hawker and entrepeneur at the Taj Mahal, along with his brother. They make a good living, but eventually they are drawn back to Mumbai. From there they actually kill the man who had pimped them and then Jamals brother goes to work for a local gangster. Meanwhile Jamal finds a job as a chaiwaller, and figures out how to get onto the show, so he can shout out to Latika and his brothers.

            The performances are so charming, the story so wonderful, and the portrayal so vivid and real, once again, Danny Boyle makes the world come to life through film, as he makes his take on the Bollywood film, and makes another amazing 2.