Slumdog Millionaire follows Jamal Malik, a teenage orphan from the ghettos of Mumbai who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of the trivia game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. As a "slumdog," though, there are those who believe that Jamal must have cheated to have come so far on the show, namely the police.
As a no-nonsense police inspector and his brutal, porcine subordinate relentlessly grill Jamal, the young man relates how he knew the answer to each question. Proving that life experiences count for as much if not more than learned knowledge, Jamal recounts how he and his older brother lost their mother when they were children to an anti-Muslim mob. Left to fend for themselves on the streets of Mumbai, Jamal and Salim turn to hustling and petty crimes to survive. Along the way, they meet another young orphan, the fetching Latika, whom Jamal falls in love with and will spend the next several years chasing.
Jamal and Salim encounter a benefactor who turns out to be a ruthless criminal and they soon make a desperate escape from his clutches. Latika, however, is not as lucky and, as he matures, Jamal makes it his mission in life to locate and save her. His brother Salim, meanwhile, grows more brutal with age, eventually becoming an outright gangster while Jamal gets a legitimate job as a tea boy at a call center. It is while working there that Jamal lands a spot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
It becomes clear As Jamal relates his story to the inspector that the youth has no real interest in the fortune that he stands to win. So what's driving him? As Jamal gets closer and closer to the jackpot, he becomes an overnight celebrity and a beacon of hope for the millions of viewers who live the same hardscrabble life he has thus far led. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Therefore, the game show really reflects Jamal’s life simultaneously. Still, Boyle succeeds in leaving these creepy beginnings behind to create a film that’s full of warmth and humanity and forever looks on the bright side of tragedy.
Jamal mentioned in the film “You don’t have to be genius” several times. For this reason, Jamal did not study anything in order to answer all of the questions given to him in the game show. Instead, the answers are all gained from his own experiences.
Jamal and his brother have been gambling about their life since they were kids. It is shown in the film when the police officer chased Jamal and his brother. In addition, there was a scene where people were chasing over Muslims community in Juhu. Jamal’s mother was killed and fortunately, Jamal and Salim managed to escaped. Unluckily, their escape brought them to the worst. There was a syndicate searching over Indians orphanage kids, and make them a beggar.
Their life was based on luck. Even in the game show, Jamal’s answers were determined by his luck. Surprisingly, all of the questions are parallel with what Jamal’s has gone through before. None of the questions asked, contradict with Jamal’s experiences. Even the police officers have doubt on him how he managed to answered all questions correctly because he is a ‘chaiwalla’. Jamal has the gut to play with his own life, destiny and fate. There are questions that he felt unsure, but still, luck has sparked on behalf of Jamal.
Another important element in this film is religion—explicit religion. It has only a cameo with Jamal, Salim, and Latika’s Muslim identities being only incidental to the story but brings great impact to the audience Earlier, when a gang of Hindu thugs overruns a group of women washing clothes, a young boy appears dressed as the Hindu god Rama. How one in a desperate situation, have will to convert or pretend to be other religion’s believer for the sake of his life. It is a game of his life, whether he want it that way (in terms of safety), or remain Muslim but being beaten and labeled as a terrorist. Only once, late in the film, do we see Salim in prayer asking divine forgiveness for a sin he is about to commit.
There does seem to be a theology to the film, however. Embedded in the opening question, as noted above regarding the slum-dog’s success, is the question: “How did he do it?” Throughout the movie we are left wondering whether Jamal is a cheat—the police assume that initially; lucky—seems plausible; a genius, probably not; or whether “it is written.”
As we work our way to the fade-to-white-light finish and the final answer, we become less and less persuaded that randomness, cheating, or even his personal brilliance drives Jamal’s story. Dev Patel plays Jamal as a fairly modest, ordinary guy: street smart and resilient, but not a genius.
Despite the presence of primarily Muslim main characters, there does not appear to be a particularly Islamic vision of divine mercy and inscrutability amid the squalor, terror, and glitz of Jamal’s life in global Mumbai. Rather, the film evokes the Hindu idea of divine play (Lila); Hindu literature is filled with stories of the devotee who triumphs over adversity through unwavering devotion to his or her deity, while the notion of one’s life being written or in the hands of destiny is a broadly shared Indian cultural perspective.
In terms of love, the point of the story is not whether Jamal will win the money but if he will get the girl. Jamal is playing the game because he wanted to search for his lost love, Latika. This put another shed of Jamal’s life determined by luck and he is merely playing a game out of his life. He is very confident, and brave in doing that.
Other elements in this film that will be discussed are human dignity, values and attitude of upper class, and education. For human dignity, Slumdog Millionaire exposed to the audience the lack of human dignity takes place not only in India, but all over the world. Jamal (Dev Patel) who appears in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a millionaire) is ridiculed by the anchor Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor). It is shown as selling tea is ‘mean’ job and publicly ridicules him, repeatedly. This, is closely related to the attitude of the upper class society and their values towards their own people (low class society). The attitude of the upper class was represented by Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) when he informs the police that Jamal could have cheated because he wanted no body in the show to win. He could not tolerate a socially lower class (caste) boy winning the prize of million rupees. Jamal once, mentioned to the police officer, who could not believe that he managed to win the game show saying that “just because I am a chaiwalla?”. Another evident is when the police officer asked Jamal whether she (Latika) is pretty or not, and the police assistant said “Bitch of slumdog”. Jamal got angry and there was a fight took place. The police officer then said “well, well...slumdog barks” (with referring to Jamal’ anger). Furthermore, children do not have opportunity for education. In fact, they are kidnapped, maimed and sent to beg on the streets. The money that is collected by begging is taken by the gang leader Maman. ‘Missing children’ in India mostly end up as child beggars in big cities.
The starving children steal food in a moving train, roughed up and thrown from the running train. Miraculously they escape. The way the children are treated for this crime is horrific.
This film revealed the true story of India and their poverty in life. Similar to ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, life is a game show for them. The movie important element is the heroic spirit and devotion that Everyman Jamal displays as he confronts the game show of life. At the opening scene, a title card is presented: "Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it?
A) He cheated,
B) He's lucky,
C) He's a genius,
D) It is written.
At the end of the film, the answer is given as ‘D’ - written. This promotes the idea of ‘karma’ where everything is predetermined and nothing could be changed. Thus, the film has opened the window to view the ground realities in India. Instead of contesting the portrayal, leaders of India should work to address it.
REFERENCES
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.southasianconnection.com
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