The latest entry to the cinema halls on 26th December was “Slumdog Millionaire” which has been shot in the bustling and hectic streets of Mumbai and is basically a compelling film which brilliantly portrays life in modern India. The movie that originally is based upon the novel "Q and A" by Indian author Vikas Swarup, is a British/American/Indian co-production and can be labeled as the slickest, coolest and most original pictures of 2008.

The movie has been made by the Britain’s greatest contemporary film maker, Danny Boyle and he basically has centralized the theme on a young Indian man who tries his level best to win 20,000,000 rupees on ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’. The character’s name is Jamal, which has been convincingly played by Dev Patel. He is an uneducated and orphaned 18 year-old ‘slumdog’ from the streets of Mumbai, who to the amazement of the Indian public manages to reach the 20,000,000 rupee question on the popular game show. Unfortunately for Jamal, who though manages to reach the question that could win him a fortune, is forced to wait overnight for his chance to win the ultimate prize, but the ‘slumdog’s’ success brings about suspicion from the authorities and the young man is subsequently handcuffed and violently interrogated by police on suspicion of cheating.  

Thus the poor young man has to convince the authorities of his innocence before the time comes for him to answer the biggest question of his life – ‘In Alexander Dumas book, The Three Musketeers, Athos and Porthos are the names of two of the musketeers, what is the name of the third?’

The original and creative screenplay is the brilliance of the film. The poor Jamal when is being interrogated by the police has to explain how he knew the correct answer to each individual question. In order to test him, the Police move through the questions one by one. The genius filmmaker, Boyle has brought to life the integral episodes of the young man’s childhood and adolescent development.

Danny Boyle has been able to once again add to his eclectic filmography with a heartfelt and original piece of modern cinema, with ultra slick cinematography, stylistic editing and maximum visual flare.