STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “Slumdog Millionaire”

Jeffrey Tung
Jun 12, 2017
2 min read

Destiny can be a cruel mistress. The small or large moments, both happy and tragic, that happen through your life can ultimately serve a purpose to a moment in the present.

It may even help you answer each question given to you on Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Directed by Danny Boyle, co-directed by Loveleen Tandan, and written by Simon Beaufoy, based on Q & A by Vikas Swarup, Slumdog Millionaire is about Jamal Malik, who is on Kaun Banega Crorepati. He’s about to answer the million dollar question on the next episode filming until he is detained by the police. He is interrogated and beaten by the police who are convinced that he cheated, since he is uneducated and from the slums, and couldn’t possibly know the answers on his own.

Jamal recounts his story to an inspector, from childhood up to the present, with some key moments appearing that corresponds to a question given to him.

It isn’t until the third act when we find out why he is on the show to begin with.

The film juggles multiple storylines: Jamal’s participation on the show, his interrogation with the police, and his childhood, which take up most of the film.

Jamal, and his older brother, Salim, live through an awful and harsh life. At age 5, after their mother die during the Bombay riots, they meet a girl from their slums, Latika. We see a clear goal from the brothers: Salim wants to gain money and power, and Jamal just wants to live peacefully with Latika, whom he has grown close to.

I’m not at all familiar with Bollywood cinema, but the film is reported to exhibit elements of a Bollywood film. One such “trope” is a scene where age 5 Jamal and Salim fall off a train, and when they land on the ground, they are suddenly teenagers. When I first saw it, I thought it was a clever way to transition a long period of time.

The opening scene sets up the mood and tone perfectly: children running around their slums to O Saya in the background (my preferred Oscar nominated song over Jai Ho, the song that ultimately won Best Original Song.) Its intensity is created with a combination of the editing and shots of the slums.

I became aware of the film after it won Best Picture (among other categories) during the Academy Awards. That’s really the only reason I wanted to watch the film.

Slumdog Millionaire is NOT a Bollywood film, but it feels like a soft introduction to Indian filmmaking (despite being directed by a Brit.) It’s a film about one man’s journey in finding the woman she loves after so many years have pass.