Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is an Oscar-winning film directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandlen. The story is about an Indian boy named Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who grows up in the slums of Mumbai with his brother, Salim (Maddhur Mittal). The two brothers are quickly orphaned when a group of religious rioters kill their mother right in front of them. The boys then meet Latika, another orphan, and go through a series of tragic events. Along the way, Salim becomes a gangster for the notorious Maman and Latika is separated from them. Determined to find Latika, his one true love, Jamal goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in hopes that she will be watching. Jamal sweeps the show and everyone thinks he is cheating. They torture him to ask how he knew all the answers, and he begins to tell the story of his life and how the answers to the questions just fell into his lap. Apparently, it is destiny.

Although I loved the character Latika, I thought that the filmmakers should have depicted a stronger woman in the film as well. There were so many male characters and hardly any female characters at all. Even though men weren’t portrayed in the best light during the film, there was the main hero, who was strong, righteous, and likeable. Latika was also likeable, but she wasn’t self-sufficient and relied on action from the male characters to propel her to action.

I don’t understand how this was the “feel-good” movie of the year. Yes, it had a happy ending (because, let’s face it, no one was that sad when Salim died) but the rest of the movie was pretty depressing. Religious related murders, purposely maiming a child, child prostitution, rape, domestic violence, gangs, torture, and poverty? Then Slumdog is the feel good movie of the year.
I have already seen Slumdog several times, and I like it. It’s rare that a Best Picture winner has a happy ending. The hero is a really good guy and true love wins out in the end. I would recommend this movie to anyone over the age of 15.