Director(s): Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan

Screenwriter(s): Simon Beaufoy

Based on:  The novel, “Q & A”, written by Vikas Swarup

Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Rajendranath Zutshi, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Rubina Ali, Ankur Vikal, Madhur Mittal, Tanay Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar

Plot: A young man born in the slums of India wins a spot on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and, in an interrogation where he’s suspected of cheating, we learn his life story through the answers to each question.

Mini Review: What does it take to find a lost love? Director Danny Boyle, Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, and Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle combine their talents to brilliantly construct the answer to this question in an inspiring story about a young man’s quest to get what he’s always wanted. Featuring songs that are youthful and jovial in nature and talented young actors, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ almost immediately tugs at our heartstrings as we root for our young protagonists. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ easily carries with it a feeling of hope and an underdog story not easily forgotten. It is easily very deserving of all of its accolades. Jim’s Rating: 9.65/10

HOW DOES ONE REMAIN UNSPOILED?

A) WATCHING THE MOVIE BEFORE YOU PROCEED.

B) RENTING/BUYING SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE AND THEN READNG THE REVIEW BEYOND THIS POINT.

C) EXPOSING YOURSELF TO THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS ‘SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE’ BEFORE MOVING ON.

D) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

(However cheesy that was, you should heed those words. Just saying.)

Random Trivia: Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup wrote his debut novel ‘Q and A’ after he was inspired by Professor Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiment, which set up computer kiosks in Indian slums so that anyone could use them and have access to the Internet. The novel was then adapted into the screenplay of Slumdog Millionaire. The Hole in the Wall experiment has gone on to become Hole in the Wall Education Limited (HiWEL), which has 300 kiosks available to over 300,000 children in India and several African countries.

Oscar Red Carpet Interview with the Kid Actors

Oscar Winning Factors: Acting, Screenplay, Editing, Music

Acting:

Jamal (Dev Patel) meets with Salim (Madhur Mittal) after not seeing him for several years and vows to never forgive him after all of the trouble he’s caused.

After the game show host makes a comment about the room temperature, Jamal–as a result of his shock–asks him if he’s nervous.

Acting/Cinematography/Editing:

Jamal, stuck on the last question, decides to phone a friend.

Music:

Finale, Dance Scene (“Jai Ho”)

The boys from the slums of India in their natural habitat…(“O Saya”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2M4oVB6okA

Cinematography/Editing:

Jamal, promising to wait at a local train station for Latika until 5 pm every day, sees Latika (Freida Pinto) look for him at the train station briefly before she’s taken away by Salim and his gang.

Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) feels bad for leaving Latika behind. Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail) tries to give him some brotherly advice and cheer him up.

Nominations and Wins:

• Achievement in Directing (W) – Danny Boyle
• Adapted Screenplay (W) – Simon Beaufoy
• Achievement in Cinematography (W) – Anthony Dod Mantle
• Achievement in Film Editing (W) – Chris Dickens
• Achevement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (W) – A.R. Rahman
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song (W) – “Jai Ho”, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyrics by Gulzar
• Achievement in Sound Mixing (W)  – Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song (N) – “O Saya”, Music and Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
• Achievement in Sound Editing (N) – Tom Sayers, Glenn Freemantle

Source(s): IMDb, The Oscars