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How did Jamal Malik win 20 million rupees?
a. He Cheated
b. He got Lucky
c. He knew the anwers

An adrenalin rush of inspiring, exhilarating entertainment, Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a feel- good fairy tale straight from the slums of Bombay/Mumbai. The story is about a 18 year old Slum boy Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), who is on his way to win 20 million rupees in the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

He is one question away from being a millionaire, when he’s thrown out of the TV studio to be interrogated and tortured by the police because they think a slum kid would have to cheat to get those answers right.

The interrogation becomes a memory flash because each of Jamal’s explanations of how he knew the answer to a particular question takes the form of a flashback to yet another exciting, heart-stopping moment of his emotional, tedious slum life. The answers to each of his question are in the form of his life’s answers he has to answer to everyday in his life. It’s very fluid, non-stop and the high-energy film-making ensures that all three settings are consistently exciting and suspenseful. Every childhood reminiscence is a shocker, a tearjerker, and a cliff-hanger as Jamal strives to survive and be with his beloved. We don’t know how the interrogation’s going to wind up and thats the best part. And most exciting of all, the whole country is waiting to see if Jamal, the poor boy making good, will win the big jackpot or sink back into poverty, and we don’t know how that’s going to end.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ tells an ingenious simple story in the most raw and humane way possible. It seems likely to stand as one of the year’s best films. There are loads of good performances. Irfan Khan (’The Namesake’ and ‘A Mighty Heart’) adds so much subtlety to the role of the police inspector. Anil Kapoor is colorful as the show host. Dev Patel is an absolute gem and ought to be seen. Tall and thin, Patel projects a perfect combination for the role of nerdiness and purity, innocence and the will to never give up. This is a wonderfully cinematic effort whose essence is its intense visuals and ably supported by the lively music of A.R. Rahman. Boyle has done it all. This will always be his Ace among all his films. It’s one of his greatest successes and a disturbing, thrilling, heart-warming pleasure to watch.

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