Slumdog Millionaire: Difference between revisions

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* [[Danny Boyle]]

'''''Slumdog Millionaire''''' is a 2008 British [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] that is a loose adaptation of the novel ''[[Q & A (novel)|Q & A]]'' (2005) by [[Indian English literature|Indian author]] [[Vikas Swarup]]. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the [[Juhu]] [[slum]]s of [[Mumbai]].<ref name="nyt">{{Cite news |last=Sengupta |first=Somini |date=11 November 2008 |title=Extreme Mumbai, Without Bollywood's Filtered Lens |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/movies/16seng.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426134922/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/movies/16seng.html |archive-date=26 April 2017}}</ref> Starring [[Dev Patel]] as Jamal, and filmed in India, the film was directed by [[Danny Boyle]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=26 November 2008 |title=Danny Boyle interview |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=https://www.avclub.com/content/interview/danny_boyle |url-status=dead |access-date=24 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202232428/http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/danny_boyle |archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref> written by [[Simon Beaufoy]], and produced by [[Christian Colson]], with [[Loveleen Tandan]] credited as co-director.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 January 2009 |title=Oscar nominations 2009: Indian director 'overlooked' for Slumdog Millionaire awards |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/4323522/Oscar-nominations-2009-Indian-director-overlooked-for-Slumdog-Millionaire-awards.html |url-status=live |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216040508/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/4323522/Oscar-nominations-2009-Indian-director-overlooked-for-Slumdog-Millionaire-awards.html |archive-date=16 December 2018}}</ref> As a contestant on ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati]]'', an Indian-[[Hindi]] version of ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]'', Jamal surprises everyone by being able to answer every question correctly, winning {{INR|2 [[crore]]|link=yes}} ($460,000). Accused of cheating, Jamal recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he is able to answer each question correctly.

After its world premiere at the [[Telluride Film Festival]] and later screenings at the [[2008 Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto International Film Festival]] and the [[London Film Festival]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gritten |first=David |date=31 October 2008 |title=Slumdog Millionaire at the London Film Festival{{Snd}} review |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/3562732/Slumdog-Millionaire-at-the-London-Film-Festival-review.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419034921/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/3562732/Slumdog-Millionaire-at-the-London-Film-Festival-review.html |archive-date=19 April 2014}}</ref> ''Slumdog Millionaire'' had a nationwide release in the [[United Kingdom]] on 9 January 2009, in [[India]] on 23 January 2009,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jamkhandikar |first=Shilpa |date=23 January 2009 |title="Slumdog" premieres in India amid Oscar fanfare |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE50L4WW20090122?edition-redirect=ca |url-status=live |access-date=24 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204160829/http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE50L4WW20090122?sp=true |archive-date=4 February 2009}}</ref> and in the [[United States]] on 25 December 2008. Regarded as a [[sleeper hit]], ''Slumdog Millionaire'' was widely acclaimed, being praised for its plot, soundtrack, cinematography, editing, direction, and performances (especially Patel's). It was nominated for ten [[81st Academy Awards|Academy Awards in 2009]] and won eight—the most for any 2008 film—including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], and [[Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]]. It won seven [[62nd British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]] including [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]], five [[14th Critics' Choice Awards|Critics' Choice Awards]] and four [[66th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globes]].

In 2006, eighteen-year-old Jamal Malik, an [[Islam in India|Indian Muslim]] from the [[Juhu]] slum of [[Mumbai]], is a contestant on ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati]]'', and is one question away from the grand prize. However, before the {{INR|20 million|link=yes}} question, he is detained and tortured by the [[Mumbai Police|police]], who suspect him of cheating. Through a series of [[Flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]], Jamal recounts the incidents in his life that provided him with each answer.

At five years old, Jamal manages to obtain the autograph of [[Bollywood]] star [[Amitabh Bachchan]] after jumping into a [[cesspit]]. Jamal's elder brother Salim later sells the autograph. Their mother is killed during the [[Bombay riots]], and as the brothers flee the riot, they meet Latika, a girl from their slum. Salim is reluctant to take her in, but Jamal suggests that she could be their "third musketeer", a reference to the [[Alexandre Dumas]] novel ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' which the two brothers had learned about in school. The brothers refer to themselves as [[Armand d'Athos|Athos]] and [[Isaac de Porthau|Porthos]] but do not know the third musketeer's name.

The three children are found by Maman{{mdash}}a [[Organised crime in India|gangster]] who [[Child trafficking in India|trains street children]] to become beggars. When Salim learns that Maman is blinding the children to make them more effective beggars – "blind singers earn double" – he escapes with Jamal and Latika to a train. The brothers successfully board the moving train but Latika is unable to keep up. Salim grabs her hand but purposefully lets go, leaving her to be recaptured by Maman. For the next few years, Salim and Jamal travel around on top of trains, making a living by selling goods, [[Pickpocketing|picking pockets]], washing dishes, and pretending to be tour guides at the [[Taj Mahal]]. At Jamal's insistence, they return to Mumbai to find Latika, where they discover that she is being raised by Maman to be a [[Prostitution|prostitute]]. The brothers rescue her, Salim shooting Maman dead. Salim gets a job with Javed{{mdash}}a rival crime lord. In their room, Salim orders Jamal to leave him alone with Latika, presumably to sexually assault her. When Jamal refuses, Salim draws a gun on him and Latika persuades Jamal to leave.

Years later, Jamal, now working as a ''[[chaiwala]]'' in a [[Call center industry in India|call centre]], searches the centre's database for Salim and Latika. He learns that Salim is a high-ranking lieutenant in Javed's crime organisation and confronts him, Salim pleads for forgiveness and Jamal lies his way into Javed's residence to reunite with Latika. Although he professes his love for her, she tells him to forget about her. Despite the refusal, Jamal promises that he will wait for her every day at five o'clock at [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus|Victoria Terminus]]. Latika attempts to meet him there but she is captured by Javed's men, led by Salim. They cut and scar her face as they drive away. Jamal loses contact with Latika and in a final attempt to reach her, he decides to become a contestant on ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'', because he knows she watches the show.

Jamal is extremely successful on the show and becomes popular across India, much to the dismay of the show's host, Prem Kumar. Kumar attempts to trick Jamal by feeding him the wrong answer to the penultimate question. However, Jamal uses his [[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?#Lifelines|50/50 lifeline]] and answers correctly, raising suspicion that he is cheating.

When the episode ends, Jamal is arrested. After an initial [[Battery (crime)|beating]], the police inspector listens to his explanation of how he knew each answer. Finding his stories "bizarrely plausible", and that he admits that Jamal is "too truthful" to be a liar, the officer allows him to return to the show. Latika sees Jamal on the news. In an effort to make amends for his past behaviour, Salim gives Latika his phone and car keys, asking her to forgive him and to keep the phone near. After Latika leaves, Salim fills a bathtub with money and sits in it, waiting for Javed to realise Latika is free.

For the final question, Jamal is asked the name of the third musketeer. He laughs at the irony and admits he does not know but chooses to try to answer the question anyway. He uses his "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline to call Salim, because it is the only phone number he knows. Latika answers and tells Jamal that she is safe, but that she does not know the answer. Javed hears Latika on the show and realises that Salim betrayed him. He and his men break down the bathroom door but Salim kills Javed before he is shot and killed by the gang. Relieved about Latika, Jamal guesses and picks the first answer, [[Henri d'Aramitz|Aramis]]. He is correct and wins the grand prize. Jamal and Latika meet on the platform at the train station and kiss. Closing credits include an Indian film-style musical number, "[[Jai Ho (song)|Jai Ho]]".

Screenwriter [[Simon Beaufoy]] wrote ''Slumdog Millionaire'' based on the [[Exclusive Books Boeke Prize|Boeke Prize]]-winning and [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]]-nominated novel ''[[Q & A (novel)|Q & A]]'' by [[Vikas Swarup]].<ref name="interviewsradio">{{Cite web |title=Slumdog Millionaire Interviews |url=http://www.pyroradio.com/index.cfm/act/interview_details/id/89 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715133738/http://www.pyroradio.com/index.cfm/act/interview_details/id/89 |archive-date=15 July 2011 |access-date=17 January 2009 |publisher=Pyro Radio}}</ref> To hone the script, Beaufoy made three research trips to India and interviewed [[street children]], finding himself impressed with their attitudes. The screenwriter said of his goal for the script: "I wanted to get (across) the sense of this huge amount of fun, laughter, chat, and sense of community that is in these slums. What you pick up on is this mass of energy."

A few analysts have offered their opinions about the film's performance at the Indian box office. Trade analyst Komal Nahta commented, "There was a problem with the title itself. Slumdog is not a familiar word for majority Indians." In addition, trade analyst Amod Mehr has stated that with the exception of [[Anil Kapoor]], the film lacks recognisable stars and that "the film... is not ideally suited for Indian sentiment." A cinema owner commented that "to hear slum boys speaking perfect English doesn't seem right but when they are speaking in Hindi, the film seems much more believable." The dubbed Hindi version, ''Slumdog Crorepati'', did better at the box office, and additional copies of that version were released.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jamkhandikar |first=Shilpa |date=30 January 2009 |title=Piracy, controversy mar Slumdog's India run |publisher=Canada.com |agency=[[Reuters]] |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/books/story.html?id=3b8503ee-cff8-4c8a-993b-7d78af594903 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122221101/http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/books/story.html?id=3b8503ee-cff8-4c8a-993b-7d78af594903 |archive-date=22 January 2016}}</ref> Following the film's success at the [[81st Academy Awards]], the film's takings in India increased by 470% the following week, bringing its total up to $6.3 million that week.<ref name="Bresnan" /> As of 15 March 2009, ''Slumdog Crorepati'' had grossed {{INRConvert|158,613,802|year=2009|nolink=yes}} at the Indian box office.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020|reason=Original cite to ibosnetwork dot com was non-specific, the site is dead, and has been "blocked" at archive.org.}}

[[Anthony Lane]] of the ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' stated, "There is a mismatch here. Boyle and his team, headed by the director of photography, Anthony Dod Mantle, clearly believe that a city like Mumbai, with its shifting skyline and a population of more than fifteen million, is as ripe for storytelling as Dickens's London [...] At the same time, the story they chose is sheer fantasy, not in its glancing details but in its emotional momentum. How else could Boyle get away with assembling his cast for a Bollywood dance number, at a railroad station, over the closing credits? You can either chide the film, at this point, for relinquishing any claim to realism or you can go with the flow—surely the wiser choice."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lane |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Lane |date=24 November 2008 |title=The Current Cinema: Hard Times |url=https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/11/24/081124crci_cinema_lane |url-status=live |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |volume=84 |issue=38 |pages=130–131 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602051534/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/11/24/081124crci_cinema_lane |archive-date=2 June 2009 |access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> Colm Andrew of the [[Manx Independent]] was also full of praise, saying the film "successfully mixes hard-hitting drama with uplifting action and the ''Who Wants To Be a Millionaire'' show is an ideal device to revolve events around".<ref name="IOMT-20090226">{{Cite news |date=26 February 2009 |title=FILM: Slumdog Millionaire{{Snd}} Manx Entertainment News |work=Isle of Man Today |publisher=Johnston Publishing Ltd. |url=http://www.iomtoday.co.im/reviews/FILM-Slumdog-Millionaire-.5020366.jp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/2012.08.03-085059/http://www.iomtoday.co.im/reviews/FILM-Slumdog-Millionaire-.5020366.jp |archive-date=3 August 2012}}</ref> Several other reviewers have described ''Slumdog Millionaire'' as a Bollywood-style "[[masala film|masala]]" movie,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kamath |first=Sudhish |date=17 January 2009 |title=The great Indian dream: Why "Slumdog Millionaire", a film made in India, draws crowds in New York |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/archive/print/2009/01/17/ |url-status=live |access-date=22 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126180319/http://hindu.com/mp/2009/01/17/stories/2009011751051300.htm |archive-date=26 January 2009}}</ref> due to the way the film combines "familiar raw ingredients into a feverish masala"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundas |first=Scott |date=12 November 2008 |title=Fall Film: Slumdog Millionaire: Game Show Masala |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2008-11-13/film-tv/game-show-masala-in-slumdog-millionaire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130011723/http://www.laweekly.com/2008-11-13/film-tv/game-show-masala-in-slumdog-millionaire/ |archive-date=30 January 2009 |access-date=22 January 2009 |website=[[LA Weekly]]}}</ref> and culminates in "the romantic leads finding each other."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Quill |first=Greg |date=21 January 2009 |title=Slumdog wins hearts here |work=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/Entertainment/article/574394 |url-status=live |access-date=22 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123075449/http://www.thestar.com/Entertainment/article/574394 |archive-date=23 January 2009}}</ref>

''Slumdog Millionaire'' has been a subject of discussion among a variety of people in India and the [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian diaspora]]. Some film critics have responded positively to the film, others objected to issues such as Jamal's use of [[British English]] or the fact that similar films by Indian filmmakers have not received equal recognition. A few notable filmmakers such as [[Aamir Khan]] and [[Priyadarshan]] have been critical of the film. Author and critic [[Salman Rushdie]] argues that it has "a patently ridiculous conceit."<ref name="pickle">{{Cite news |last=Rushdie |first=Salman |date=27 February 2009 |title=A Fine Pickle |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/28/salman-rushdie-novels-film-adaptations |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226104607/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/28/salman-rushdie-novels-film-adaptations |archive-date=26 December 2013}}</ref>