Yes that is the central theme of the movie: how can a young uneducated boy named Jamaal raised in a poor Mumbai slum know all the answers in the Indian version of the TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" !!
And to get the answer to this question, the local police beats him up and tries to do a jumpstart, as if he is an automobile, by attaching a car battery to his feet! However, Jamaal manages to convince the police officer that he really knew the answers to the questions ! Though not before he is repeatedly slapped by the sub-inspector and cursed with the popular cuss word 'Behan ch...' several times!
The movie starts with Jamaal gradually moving towards the final question on the TV show and ends with him becoming an instant 'crorepati' ! Intertwined in between is the story of him and his three friends including the girl named Latika. They get separated while escaping a slum lord (see below) but meet towards the end - one is on TV, Latika is living a middle class life in bungalow, the third has turned into a young gangster and the fourth was blinded and has become a beggar.
And how does Jamaal know the answers ? To find this out the director does frequent and effective flashbacks to his slum life; where he lived with his poor friends and before he turned into a youth with British accent (Dev Patel). That is where the movie excels by delving into the dirty slums built near the garbage dumps and the public 'tuttees' . And the director's handling of the pre-teen actors who play the slum kids is praiseworthy. We are shown that even the slum kids in India are crazy about their movie stars like Amitabh Bachchan and will gladly ignore their personal hygiene so that they can catch a glimpse of the star!!
And what else did the director find in the slums? A crooked slum lord that preys upon poor hungry slum children by enticing them with food and then maiming them so that they can stand at busy intersections of the city and beg small change. I felt repulsed by the scene where a young boy is held down and turned into a blind person by damaging both of his eyes!!! We see that blind boy begging in an underground street cross walk later in the movie. I do not know if that part of the movie is real but we do find many poor blind beggars in some parts of the busy metropolis that is Mumbai.
And that slum boy knew the answers because of the events and conversations he had with his poor friends and the schooling he got by sitting on the floor in the crowded classroom. And we are shown that the Indian men are prone to anger and throw textbooks on the heads of their pupils if they turn up late and throw anger tantrums at their wives/live-in help if the sandwich is not to their liking.
[At least they are alive and not being 'done' in an American hospital!! Behan Ch...]
There is gang violence towards the end. And we have to thank the makers of this movie for diving into a layer of Mumbai which very few have dared to do so bluntly. And for showing the show's host actor Anil Kapoor further repeatedly insulting the young boy as 'chai' wala.....If Danny Boyles , so do I !!
Jai Ho.....
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