SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008, UK/USA, 123m, 15) ****½
Drama, Romance
dist. Fox Searchlight Pictures (USA), Pathé Distribution (UK); pr co. Fox Searchlight / Warner Independent / Celador Films / Film4; d. Danny Boyle; w. Simon Beaufoy (based on the novel ‘Q&A’ by Vikas Swarup); pr. Christian Colson; ph. Anthony Dod Mantle (Technicolor | 2.35:1); m. A.R. Rahman; ed. Chris Dickens; pd. Mark Digby; ad. Abhishek Redkar.
cast: Dev Patel (Older Jamal), Freida Pinto (Older Latika), Madhur Mittal (Older Salim), Anil Kapoor (Prem), Irrfan Khan (Police Inspector), Saurabh Shukla (Sergeant Srinivas), Mia Drake (Adele), Raj Zutshi (Director), Rubina Ali (Youngest Latika), Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (Youngest Jamal), Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (Youngest Salim), Tanay Chheda (Middle Jamal), Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala (Middle Salim), Mahesh Manjrekar (Javed), Ankur Vikal (Maman), Sanchita Choudhary (Jamal’s Mother), Himanshu Tyagi (Mr Nanda), Sharib Hashmi (Prakash), Feroze Khan (Amitabh Bachchan), Sunil Kumar Agrawal (Mr. Chi).
Structurally inventive social commentary sees 18-year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) answer questions on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” whilst flashbacks show how he got there. Part of a stable of young thieves after their mother dies, Jamal and his brother, Salim, survive on the streets of Mumbai. Salim finds the life of crime agreeable, but Jamal scrapes by with small jobs until landing a spot on the game show. This is a great piece of filmmaking that may feel contrived in construction, but taken on its terms makes its points with both drama and humour as we follow Jamal’s journey. The performances of the children are strong and Patel has much charm as the older Jamal. The film closes with a nod to Bollywood.
AA: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Directing (Danny Boyle); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy); Best Achievement in Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle); Best Achievement in Film Editing (Chris Dickens); Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (A.R. Rahman); Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song (A.R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)) for the song “Jai Ho”; Best Achievement in Sound Mixing (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty).
AAN: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song (A.R. Rahman, M.I.A.) for the song “O Saya”; Best Achievement in Sound Editing (Tom Sayers, Glenn Freemantle)
