Adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel, this rags to riches story follows slum kid Jamal (Patel) and his unbelievable success on the Indian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? There are those, however, who thin[...]

Adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel, this rags to riches story follows slum kid Jamal (Patel) and his unbelievable success on the Indian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? There are those, however, who think that his success is too unbelievable. The movie opens with Jamal being tortured at the hands of a brutal police chief (Khan); he's just a nobody with little or no education so how did he know all the answers?

Cutting back and forth from the investigation to the show, each question kicks off a flashback to Jamal's childhood and how his life experiences help him in the hotseat. Through this approach, Boyle and Tandan sketch Jamal's life story: the death of his mother, his love/hate relationship with his older brother, Salim (Mittal), and the epic love story with Laitka (Pinto), a relationship that forms the spine of the story. Slumdog Millionaire can be as grim and depressing a film as you'll see, but the directors allow a lot of humour to flood the darkness when least expected, and amazingly, these pockets of fun don't feel out of place.

The performances from all concerned are top notch: Patel, with only TV series Skins to his name, takes his first lead role with confidence and Khan is always dependable. The accolades, however, go to the younger versions of Jimal; Ayush Mahesh Khedeker and Tannay Chheda, playing the youngest and middle Jimals respectively. Only the rushed ending, where Boyle and Tandan try to hard to wrap everything up, stops the movie from being perfect.

Review by Gavin Burke