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 [UK]

Country:

UK India

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

The film was originally intended to receive a PG-13 rating. In the end, it received an R rating because of its intense tone. With no time or money for appeals, the film was released with its given rating.

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Goofs

The scene where young Jamal tries to steal food, hanging upside down on the train shows a window which had removable bars (it's like a fire escape). These kind of bars were not installed until after the 2002 Gujarat riots.

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Quotes

[Salim and Jamal are sitting on the edge of an under construction apartment building]
Older Salim: That... used to be our slum. Can you believe that, huh?
[pointing at something]
Older Salim: We used to live right there, man. Now, it's all business. India is at the center of the world now, bhai. And I... I am at the center... of the center. This is all Javed bhai's.
Jamal Malik: Javed Khan... the gangster from our slum? You work for him?
Older Salim: Come on, who else do you think would save us from Maman's guys, huh?
Jamal Malik: What do you do for him?
Older Salim: ...
[...]

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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

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #8.113 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Paper Planes
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

Deserved The Oscar For Cinematography

I thought the best part of this movie was the photography. Check this film out on Blu-Ray, if you have the opportunity: it's magnificent-looking. They even make slums look beautiful! I'm glad it won the Oscar for cinematography. Scene after scene is gorgeous.

Story-wise, it's okay; good, but nothing super. For the first half of the film, it reminded me of "City Of God," about the homeless kids in Brazil, but that film had far more violent kids. This one mainly had kids as pranksters and then victims of some sicko adult who wants to use them to make money.

The story will be fun for those who used to be hooked on the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" quiz show, but the host here in this Indian version is no lovable Regis Philbin. You won't like him.

Almost all of the story is told in flashback, so be prepared for that. It's one of those stories where all the little pieces fit together in the end to explain why things happened in the start of the film.

I wouldn't have voted for this as the Best Picture Of The Year but it is entertaining and a feast for the eyes.