Film review: Slumdog Millionaire

BY BARNEY MCDONALD

Last updated 09:53 07/03/2009

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Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is the poor person's Mastermind, so it seems fitting it has translated so well into a highly enjoyable film about a young uneducated Indian pauper who wins the top prize.

With its pointless rhetorical title, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has aired in more than 100 countries and was purchased recently by Sony.

It's so popular, especially with the masses, that to tack a story set in one of the most populous countries in the world on to a premise involving the show is a stroke of pure creative and commercial genius.

Vikas Swarup wrote the 2005 novel Q&A that Simon (The Full Monty) Beaufoy's excellent script is based on. He was intrigued by the show's huge success and by the coughing and cheating scandal that hit the UK franchise in 2001.

In September that year, a British army major won £1 million (NZ$2.7m), only to be convicted in April 2003 of conspiring with his wife and a college lecturer of cheating the system.

If a British army major can be accused of cheating, then an ignorant tiffin boy from the world's biggest slum can definitely be accused of cheating, reasoned Swarup.

It's an original concept that affords co-directors Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan (who originally signed on as casting director) huge scope to explore life in the slums of recently bombed Mumbai, a Dickensian rags-to-riches tale of an underprivileged boy, the enduring power of love and the corrupting influence of capitalism.

Boyle, a distinctly British director, is no stranger to inventive filmmaking that transcends the formula and parameters of conventional storytelling.

Although his career has waned in recent years, he delighted audiences with the audacious plots, style and characters of his first two films: Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

With Slumdog Millionaire, he's back on track, crafting a film already delighting audiences worldwide.

The film isn't perfect and it's an oddity to have a director from a nation that imposed its colonial might on India somehow putting a form of Bollywood on the map.

But the story is so charming and such a wonderful celebration of the underdog it can be forgiven its shortcomings - such as the awkwardness of its non-linear structure and the deadpan tone of lead Dev Patel's acting.

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Films that take risks and succeed are to be commended. Technology in filmmaking now allows studios and directors to enter almost any story or world, no matter how fantastical.

But the bottom line of a great film is always a compelling story. And Slumdog Millionaire has all the right elements: humour, tragedy, romance, tension, heroism.

Some of this even comes from the scenes evoking Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, a show that attempts to milk every drop of drama from its contestants' efforts to pick the right answer.

Intriguingly, Paul Smith, original co-creator of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, executive produces the film, proving some people know a good thing when they see it.

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, current host of India's version of the show, turned down the role of host in the movie, proving some people don't.

Slumdog Millionaire
Directors: Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan
Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Tanay Chheda
Rated: R13
Time: 120 minutes
Screening: From Thursday
Trailer: Flicks.co.nz

* What do you think of Slumdog Millionaire? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News