Slumdog Millionaire

Virginia and I watched Slum Dog Millionaire over the weekend. This is the film shot in India that won the Best Picture Oscar in 2008.


It is about Jamal, who grows up in the slums of Mambai with his mother and brother, Salim. His mother is killed during a riot when he is a kid. He and his brother meet up with Latika, who is they call the third musketeer.


The kids struggle to survive. They fall into a hands of a bad guy, named Maman who had them beg for money. Maman wants Salim to become part of his gang and as his initiation, he wants Maman to blind Jamal so that he will get more money when begging. Jamal and Salim escape, but Latika is left behind.


The kids find a way to survive for several years, but Jamal insists that they go back and find Latika. They eventually find that Latika is working for Maman as some kind of hooker. Salim ends up shooting Maman, but then takes Latika for his own. Jamal wants to fight his brother, but Latika tells him to leave in order that he be safe.


Jamal has to fend for himself now. Several years later, Jamal is working in a call center and find out that Salim is now a bigtime gangster. Jamal asks about Latika but is told that she is long gone. However, it turns out that Latika is actually with Salim's crime boss, Javed. Jamal declares his love for her, but Latika tells him to forget her. Jamal tells her he will wait for her every day at 5 PM at the train station. Latika eventually comes to the train station, but Javed and Salim catch her and take her away.


Jamal then goes on the game show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire which he knows is Latika's favorite show. Based on Jamal's life experiences he is able to answer all the questions leading up to the final question which will be on the next show. The host alerts the police that Jamal is cheating so the police question Jamal. This is how the movie begins and is told thru flashbacks of Jamal's life and explains how he knows each answer.

After hearing his explanation, the police release Jamal and he goes back on the game show to go for the grand prize. Salim helps Latika escape from Javed knowing that it would cause him a lot of trouble. Javed comes for Salim and they have a shoot out where both are shot.

The final question is about the name of the third musketeer which they could never figure out when they are younger. Jamal uses a lifeline to remove two of the four choices and then another lifeline to call Salim. However, Latika has Salim's cell phone. Latika does not know the answer but tells Jamal that see is safe. Jamal takes a guess at the answer and wins the top prize. Jamal and Latika are reunited at the end.

I thought Slumdog Millionaire was a good movie about Jamal's difficult life in the slums without parents to overcoming his obstacles and winning the game show and the love of his girlfriend. However, the game show aspect did not seem very realistic. How did he get selected to appear on the show? Jamal had to learn about life the hard way, but it is still quite a coincidence that all the questions had to do with facts he learned about on the street. I believe that was the wesk point of the movie. I give Slumdog Millionaire a B.