How to become a Millionaire - The Slumdog Way

1) I must be an expert in cheating.

2) I must be a real lucky guy.

3) I must be born a genius.

4) I must be destined.

Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle and starred by Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor and Madhur Mittal (who are these actors??! Maybe they are very famous in Bollywood=), has caught the world attention by winning 8 oscars. The most for any film in 2008. They are Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Directing; Best Achievement in Editing; Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Score; Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Song; Best Achievement in Sound; Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Writing, Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published (typing all these make me tired too... phew).

It is an adaptation of the Boeke Prize-winning and Commonwealth Writers' Prize-nominated novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup.

Why is this film such a success professionally and also so popular among the masses? I'd be playing an amateur critic here=)

First of all, it actually portrays life in India (though I'm not sure if it is a true representation??) but I suspect it may not be that far off as we've heard rumours of such hardship. That day I watched the film was also Oscar Day and thus I already know the results. So I tried my best to notice how the movie was being filmed such that it won so many awards. However being an amatuer, besides having a good feeling overall, I cannot tell the difference between another film=P

The plot was very refreshing too. How every part of Jamal's life provides an answer to the next question asked in the game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Indian Version of course). And behind all these is his dedication to his one and only Love, Latika. His real purpose on the game show is his hope that Latika would be watching so that they can reunite again. Such pure love!

Other things which make an impression on me is how Salim, Jamal's brother, eventually changes his evil ways to help Latika and Jamal to be together again, though he uses his life in exhange for that. Karma strikes.

How Prem Kumar, the game show host, attempts to give Jamal the wrong answer to the next question but Jamal believes in himself and his destiny more than anything (or evil nature of humans?).

Lastly, this movie has a fantastic good ending which could not be said of so many other great films out there, making the audience having the feeling of imperfection when the show ends! I think the scriptor is smart to give The Three Musketeers question at the end. We already know Jamal clearly do not know the answer, so he can only really count on his destiny and yet at the same time, the audience (we) would most probably know cos this is very common (which means we know he would win the 20 rupees even before the show ends!). Unfortunately for me, I don't know haha.

So the answer to the above question is (D) with a twist: You must be destined to have a scriptor willing to write the story for You!