‘Slumdog Millionaire’ deserves accolades
Cert 15
115 mins
Drama/Romance
Eighteen-year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) has been raised by his older brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) since they were orphaned as children.
Avoiding the clutches of child slave traders, the youngsters use guile to survive on the streets, encountering a pretty orphan girl called Latika (Freida Pinto) who will change their lives forever.
Jamal’s luck seems to change when he finds himself in the hot seat on India’s version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’
Miraculously, the orphan knows the answer to each question, and as he edges closer to the 20 million rupee final question, Jamal stands on the brink of a momentous leap of faith that could drag him, Salim and Latika out of the gutter.
Slumdog Millionaire is an utterly irresistible rites-of-passage drama that builds to an extraordinary emotional crescendo, employing a simple flashback structure to chart Jamal’s journey from the slums.
Set to the infectious rhythms of AR Rahman’s evocative soundtrack, Simon Beaufoy’s multi-layered screenplay doesn’t strike a single false note as it pieces together the chronologically fragmented narrative.
Star Rating: 5/5.
