The opening scene from the searing Indian film "Slumdog Millionaire" finds the protagonist, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), with his hands tied over his head as a Mumbai policeman tortures him. Thank goodness the rest of the movie isn't as torturing to watch as its beginning.
This coming-of-age story pits Jamal, a poor boy from the slums of India, against a Mumbai detective as he tries to explain his success on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." The police can't come to grips with why a "slumdog" could answer more questions than almost any other contestant on the show.
In the opening credits, the film gives a multiple-choice question on how Jamal got so far on the show: A. He cheated B. He's lucky C. He's a genius D. It is destiny.
The detective plays back the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" tape in order to find out how Jamal could answer such difficult questions correctly. Every question he answers on the show leads into a back-story about how Jamal grew up in the slums of India.
"Slumdog Millionaire," directed by Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "28 Days Later") and Loveleen Tandan, is based off the novel "Q & A" by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup. Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty," "Miss Pettogrew Lives for a Day") adapted text for the screenplay.
The film's structure gives both clues about Jamal's past and present. He and his brother, Salim, were orphaned after their mother was killed during a Hindu raid on their village. The two along with another orphan, Latika, were forced to fend for themselves until a man comes and whisks them away from the garbage dump they had been sleeping on. The man's charity is too good to be true as he sends all the children he collects to panhandle and return him the profits.
Jamal and Salim barely escape on train — a recurring mode of transportation throughout the film — leaving Latika behind. The boys learn to grift tourists outside the Taj Mahal, giving faux tours and taking Polaroids for the sightseers.
Jamal never gets over his love for Latika and spends the rest of his life searching for her, which leads him onto "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire."
M.I.A.'s hit song "Paper Planes" plays while the boys swindle tourists. Putting the track in the film seemed a bit over the top at first — the song is about stealing at gunpoint — but it foreshadows the trouble Salim will encounter when he grows older.
"Slumdog Millionaire" shows the tortures of living in modern day India, but also its progress in becoming the next great nation. Indian culture takes a hold of Western tradition — TV game shows, telemarketing and gentrification — but with this comes greed, corruption and murder.
Boyle and Tandan realistically display the poor standards of living in India — outhouses, shacks stacked side-by-side — with cinematic realism, intermixing harsh shots with cleaner ones.
"Slumdog Millionaire" is basically a love story as Jamal tries to find his long lost love, but it's so much more than just that. The film describes major class gaps in India as well as India's advancement in the world economy.