Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

A Mumbai teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

Directors:

Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan (co-director)

Writers:

Simon Beaufoy (screenplay), Vikas Swarup (novel)

Stars:

Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla

Won 8 Oscars. Another 146 wins & 129 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dev Patel	...	Older Jamal
Saurabh Shukla	...	Sergeant Srinivas
Anil Kapoor	...	Prem
Raj Zutshi	...	Director
Jeneva Talwar	...	Vision Mixer
Freida Pinto	...	Older Latika
Irrfan Khan	...	Police Inspector
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail	...	Youngest Salim
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar	...	Youngest Jamal
Jira Banjara	...	Airport Security Guard (as Hira Banjara)
Sheikh Wali	...	Airport Security Guard
Mahesh Manjrekar	...	Javed
Sanchita Choudhary	...	Jamal's Mother
Himanshu Tyagi	...	Mr Nanda
Sharib Hashmi	...	Prakash

Storyline

The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's Kaun Banega Crorepati? (2000) (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really ...

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Plot Keywords:

papadum | india | prostitute | murder | television show | 

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Taglines:

Love and money... You have mixed them both.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

UK

Language:

English Hindi French German

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slumdog Millionaire

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,827,457 (United Kingdom), 11 January 2009, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$360,018, 16 November 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$141,319,928

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$377,910,544

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celador Films, Film4, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda and Shahrukh Khan were all approached to play the role of the game show host Prem Kumar.

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Goofs

While preteen Jamal is at the opera wetting his face with water, his black eye, which he sustained as a tour guide for the American couple after Salim orchestrated the stripping of the car parts, briefly switches from his left eye to his right eye when he turns his head to the right (no, not in the reflection in the water) then returns back to his left eye.

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Quotes

Jamal Malik: I'll wait for you at the train station every day at five.

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Crazy Credits

Several of the cast perform a traditional Bollywood song and dance number set in a train station over the end credits.

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Connections

References Taggart (1983)

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Soundtracks

Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
Written by M.I.A. (as Mathangi Arulpragasam), Topper Headon, Mick Jones,
Diplo (as Wesley Pentz), Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer
Performed by M.I.A.
Published by Imagen Music, Hollertronix, Domino Publishing Company Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Ltd.,
Nineden Ltd.
Courtesy of XL Recordings Ltd. and Interscope
Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

User Reviews

Must-See

This is an extraordinary film. From the original concept of the novel on which it is based (Q&A by Vikas Swarup), the screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (Full Monty) but especially the masterful creation and direction of the film by Danny Boyle. From the opening moments until the final scene, the audience was fully engaged. I was completely lost in the world that Danny Boyle created. This is not a story that has been told and retold, hashed and rehashed. It is fresh and engaging - all at once quickly moving, romantic, violent, culturally insightful, desperate and slightly fantastic. There are some comic elements to the film but to describe it as a "comedy" seems inappropriate. The film was shot on location in India, mostly in Mumbai. Slumdog Millionaire is yet another testament to depth and range of Boyle's artistic talent who has directed such diverse films as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine.

I saw the film on at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival as a "sneak preview." The film was introduced by Boyle who said that the official opening of the film would be the next weekend at the Toronto Film Festival. He also said that there may be some final tweaking of the film prior to Toronto.

In the discussion after the film Boyle strongly recommended three Indian made films: Satya, Company and Black Friday. He described each as superb. Boyle also stated that a portion of the Slumdog Millionaire was shot with a Canon EOS still camera, especially around the Taj Mahal, rather than a proper movie camera which creates unwanted attention while filming at popular tourist locations in India.

8.2