Review: Slumdog Millionaire- I’m speechless

Slumdog millionaire is an awesome movie. In fact I’m a person of too small a stature to review a film of this quality. Hats off to Danny Boyle.

Its a story of a Muslim kid, a victim of the 1992 Mumbai (then Bombay) riots. He loses his mother to the rioters. However along with his elder brother, manages to flee, succumbs and gets away with life’s enduring and horrific experiences. On the way, he finds love and loses the girl too… this time to a treachery by his own brother. The rest of the movie is all about Jamaal Malik’s (played by Dev Patel) quest to find his girlfriend Latika (Frieda Pinto). As a medium he decides to take part in the famous gameshow (Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire) and goes on to win it. The film finally has a bitter sweet ending.

What strikes you most is the way the story is weaved around the questions asked to Jamaal on the talk show. Every answer he gives turns out to be one of his many experiences. Especially the ones when he is asked the question ‘Who wrote the famous bhajan Darshan de Ghanashyam’ or the one ‘Whose picture is featured on the US dollar note’. They take your breath away.

Performance wise, the movie belongs to Dev Patel and the other two junior Jamaal Maliks. The kid who played ‘Salim’ as Jamaal’s elder brother is also good. Rest, Irfann Khan as the inspector, Saurabh Shukla as the constable, Mahesh Manjrekar as Javed bhai (the don), Frieda Pinto as young Latika have done justice to their roles. Anil Kapoor as a cunning host of the game show is very refreshing and welcoming. Music plays a good part in the movie and all the background scores are really impeccable. After watching the movie, I have great respect for Danny Boyle as a director. Had I been a Film maker, I would have wanted Danny to direct all my next movies.

I dont know if it is going to be released here. I watched over an online stream. But in case if you get a chance, go and watch it. Its a must watch!