~ Love and Money ~

Slumdog Millionaire was one of the most talked about films of 2008 and has had a lot of media coverage. I rented the film from the local DVD shop about five months ago whilst babysitting my little brother. I really wanted to go and watch it in the cinema but never really got round to it. The cinemas are just too expensive and to be honest a film today does not take long to be released on DVD. Even though I had pre order the film on my Love film list I knew that there would be a long waiting list and managed to grab the last copy. I was really looking forward to watching it.

As the film had been talked about for the last couple of months I had high expectations of the film. Even though everyone said it was suppose to be amazing, I don’t really like expecting it to be brilliant as I hate to be disappointed. It had a lot of media hype and I was sure it would be great but maybe I might not find it as excellent as everyone said it was. I remember the trailers of the film when released at the cinema. It was full of colour, life and fast music, very eye catching. It did not give a lot away but you could guess briefly what it was about. I immediately recognised the main character in the film as Dev Patel. I have been a fan of TV series Skins for ages, so it was funny to see a member of the cast here in a top film.

I also saw from the trailers the director’s name of Danny Boyle who I am a fan of. He has done many films that I really like and so I thought that he would be just as brilliant for this. As I sat down with my popcorn and brother who surprisingly did not argue with me about the film, I was anxious to see what this would be like.

~ BASIC INFO ~

Director- Danny Boyle

Danny is an English Director and as been directing films for nearly twenty years. He has won many awards for his work and is one of my favourite directors. He likes doing films with a difference and focuses on action/ horror and thriller movies. Other films that I enjoyed have been- ’28 Days later’ 2002 and ‘The Beach’ 2000. He also directed the strange movie of ‘Trainspotting’ 1996.

Writers- Simon Beaufoy (Screenplay) and Vikas Swarup (novel).
Release date- 9 January 2009 (UK).
Runtime- 120 Mins
Certificate- 15
Distributors- 20th Century Fox

~ PLOT ~

Slumdog Millionaire is adapted from a novel called Q7A (2005) written by a Indian author named Vikas Swarup. The movie focuses on the life of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who reaches a chance of being rich and famous.

He appears on an Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ and he is being accused of cheating. Jamal the protagonist is seen knowing all of the answers and is arrested for this. He takes the policemen through his childhood to prove how he knows all of the answers.

Even though the film is adapted by a novel it has many differences. The names are different for a start and there is a few changes made to Jamal’s life, so it does not run in line with exactly what happens in the book. However there are good comparisons with both boys in each story. There is more violence in the film and a lot more which happens whilst he is a small boy.

~ CAST and Characters ~

Dev Patel- Jamal Malik

Jamal raised in the slums of Mumbai has a horrific journey through childhood and is quick to learn how to be independent on him and that the world is a cruel place. His character develops many times through the film and it was easy to feel attached to the protagonist. The audience gets to feel involved in his life. I really like this character.

Dev was spotted whilst he was starring in television show Skins and was cast for his young, Bollywood look. He has since then become well known and has built a good reputation for himself. I liked his role in Skins so knew he would do well in this. I think he was a good choice because even though he is not glamorous, he is young, vibrant and shows good nature.

Freida Pinto – Latika

The love of Jamal’s life and young girl who grew up with Jamal and his brother in the slums. She and Jamal were inseparable as children and did everything together. She always has a traumatic childhood and wants a life away from the big city.

Freida is a young, beautiful Indian actress and model who has made her debut in this film. She has not starred in any other productions and is now filming another film for 2010. She was also very likable and you worried about what would happen to her throughout the film.

Other characters

Madhur Mittal – Salim Malik (Jamal’s older brother)
Anil Kapoor- Prem Kumar (Game show host)
Irrfan Khan- Police Inspector
Mahesh Manjrekar – Javed
Ankur Vikal – Maman
Suarabh Shukla – Head Constable

My enemy's enemy is my friend

~ OPINIONS ~

Slumdog is such an upbeat and bright film that you cannot look away from it. It offers enjoyment of escaping the real world to a unforgettable story. Even though I think that there was way too much media hype it is an excellent film. It’s colourful and a fantasy world with realism mixed in. In my opinion I thought it was an inspirational film. I am a fan of films that capture you straight away and this did not fail to do so. Boyle is a very talented director and you can see this within the film.

~ Acting ~

The acting was superb and all of the actors really fitted their parts. The characters capture everything going on in the film and perform with the highest standards. There were likeable characters and the typical horrible bad guys who you felt disgusted by.
The chemistry between Jamal and Lakita is really good and it helps when the actors look good together and work well. Even though I had not known any of the other actors other than Dev it did not seem to be important. They all worked really well and their performances were impressive. Freida is stunning and shows her true beauty through this film and no wonder why this was her debut, she performs outstandingly.

The children were incredible and touched upon some violent and emotional scenery. They performed with splendour showing the humour and horrors of children’s lives in the slums.

~ Filming ~

The visuals are amazing and have strong morals. The scenery in some of the film is just beautiful and we see so many contrasts of beautiful cities with the dirty living of the slums. The pictures are vivid and the locations are just breath taking. It was intriguing to see as the film goes on that the slums are still evident and are right in the middle of growing town Mumbai. The city is big with cars, clubs and money but this dark world lives just nearby.

The filming is done with perfection and even the gritty slums which are surrounded by trash seem upbeat. The children seem to love playing in the rubbish and do not care about money. It is quite hard to see so many children that live in these states and Boyle shows this well to create an image of what the slums in Mumbai are like. The camera work is just first class and everything is just interesting to look at.

The filming uses many techniques to keep it interesting and alive. The question-flashbacks are really good and made it impossible to loose interest. This does not make it complicated though and I found it easy to understand and follow the events. It does a brilliant job of creating suspense for the audience.
The sections of Jamal’s life as he grew up were done well. Even though it does not tell us directly who each person is as they enter when the boys grow up it is obvious who they are.

I really loved all of the establishing shots and the parts of Jamal’s growing up. There is a scene where the brothers are on a train after escaping an evil man, and they grow from young children to teens through the shots and events around this train which saved them. All of the filming was done in India and I think it captured it well. The shot were just fast and glides along with the action.

~ NARRATIVE~

The story was just brilliant. A slumdog who could be a millionaire. It is a fresh story with plenty to offer. Even though the simple main plot of Jamal playing the game show does not stop Boyle in his creative mind of exploring this young mans life. Some parts a little slow but it works well with what is happening at the time. Even though the film is two hours long I think it needed this to pull off all of the sub plots created. It is very rare to find a movie which includes so much in a story. There are some strong emotions in the film which Boyle shows in such an engaging way it is really hard to look away.

I liked the fact that Boyle set the film to have scenes of Indian speaking. It set the atmosphere and created a ethnical move. Having the children especially speaking in their native language gives the film that unique factor. Having them speaking in English would have been silly all the way through. I really liked the ending of the film when Jamal reaches his last question. I didn’t expect a number of things about the scene when they are reunited for the last time and it was a nice surprise.

The romance is very sweet and we can tell that these two children are close from the start. The way it is filmed is very beautiful and tasteful. The love between them is shown in a sort of artistic way and there are not any sexual scenes which are explicit. It is shown like poetry, the amazing side of being in love. It is tender and they do not have to show this by touch and actions, Boyle creates the love around their facial expressions, the music and the caring nature of Jamal.

~ OVERALL ~

I was very impressed with the film and will properly at some point buy the DVD. It is a outstanding film with everything included, love, wealth, violence, humour and exquisite scenery. The music is brilliant and keeps it alive. It is one of the best films I have seen in a long while and I would defiantly recommend it if you have not seen it already.

Many people have said that it shows a misinterpretation of Indian people and the Mumbai slums but I think it has opened people’s eyes to it. I did not know anything about Mumbai and now can see what some people have to live like. To be honest some of the film shows a fantasy fairytale like manner and I think that some people have taken it way too seriously. It is a film based on a novel it does not have to be 100% realistic.

~ DVD ~

Price- £6.99 from play.com

~ SOUNDTRACK ~

The music is spot on for the film and combines the atmosphere with the actions. It is mixed of lively upbeat themes to slow and dramatic creations.

Composed by A R Rahman. The CD can be brought from major websites including Play.com for £4.99.

1. 1- O... Saya - A R Rahman & M.I.A.
2. 2- Riots - A R Rahman
3. 3- Mausam & Escape - A R Rahman
4. 4 -Paper Planes - M.I.A.
5. 5- Paper Planes (Dfa Remix) - M.I.A.
6. 6- Ringa Ringa - A R Rahman Featuring Alka Yagnik & Ila Arun
7. 7- Liquid Dance - A R Rahman Featuring Palakkad Sriram & Madhumitha
8. 8- Latika's Theme - A R Rahman Featuring Suzanne
9. 9- Aaj Ki Raat - Sonu Nigam, Mahalaxmi Lyer & Alisha Chinoi
10. 10- Millionaire - A R Rahman Featuring Madhumitha
11. 11- Gangsta Blues - A R Rahman Featuring Blaaze & Tanvi Shah
12. 12- Dreams On Fire - A R Rahman Featuring Suzzanne
13. 13- Jai Ho - A R Rahman Featuring Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer

~ EXTRAS ~

- As the movie became so famous the words ‘jai ho’ and ‘Slumdog’ have been entered into the international lexis.
- Rotten Tomato rating- 94%
- The film won eight out of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.
- It also won seven BAFTA awards which included, Best Film and Best Film Music.

Website- www.slumdogmillionairemovie.co.uk

Also published on Dooyoo