23 January,2009 03:52 PM IST | | Sumana B Jayant
Movie: Slumdog Millionaire
Starring: Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Frieda
Pinto
Director: Danny Boyle
Verdict: '''1/2
Every fairytale starts with "Once upon a timeu2026" but there are very less stories which start in a torture room. It might be a scrappy contender in the Oscars, where the movie showcases the modern India to the world when there is an economic spin, it does have the grip which will make you stick to the seats. Slumdog is a family movie, with shocking brutality inside, a romantic melody backed with sexual abuse and exploitation, fantasies of being rich with shades of poverty.
An illiterate slum boy from Mumbai goes to the television show, "who wants to be a millionaire" and returns as the ultimate black horse! You would wonder who will want to watch such a movie? Answer is: you. You will want to watch it. The cops think that the 18 year old slum boy Jamal Malik (brilliant Dev
Patel) has committed fraud when he is about to hit the jackpot of Rs 20 million in the quiz show.
The quiz master Anil Kapoor has a problem with him, since the boy is grabbing all the attention from his show and not his star value. The inspector (Irrfan Khan) is determined to find out the truth before he goes again on the show for his last jackpot question for Rs 20 million.
The brilliant screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and direction by Danny Boyle makes sure that he can work some miracles. Here is the proof. We get to know the history of Jamaal Malik through flashback and the other important characters in his life, like his wild brother Salim (Madhur Mittal is outstanding) who is a professional killer with the underworld now and his love interest Latika (the super hot Frieda Pinto) who was forced into prostitution in her childhood and a play toy to a gangster (Mahesh Manjrekar) now.
Jamal answers the questions in the show, through his real life incidents and the lessons he learnt all through his life and not through any books, since he has never read one. Every coincidence, including witnessing his mother's death during anti-Muslim riots comes to his rescue during the questionnaire.
A R Rehman's background score is like the icing on the cake and it's the honesty of the movie gets you in, but the bruised characters are the one which will hold you back! Slumdog Millionaire does hit you real hard!
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