“SLUMDOG Millionaire,” the winner of four Golden Globes including best drama and best director (Danny Boyle) and now a hot favorite for the upcoming Oscars, has been described as a feel-good flick for these hard economic times. It will certainly leave a smile on your face and even a Bollywood song in your heart, but this rags-to-riches story of a boy from the Mumbai slums who becomes an overnight sensation when he goes on a TV quiz show to become a millionaire is not without its hard, sharp and even brutal edges. Just as you get lulled into concentrating on the beauty of the exotic images and the astonishing camerawork, there is another Dickensian twist in the plot to manipulate your emotions. The plot, it must be said, is very thin with an unabashedly fairytale improbability, but that never really seems to matter. The cast of unknown actors is so vibrant that you are immediately caught up in their lives and are ready to believe anything they do. The one character which is only too real is the city of Mumbai itself, which apparently was filmed using small unobtrusive cameras so that ordinary people in the street, unaware that a movie was being filmed, became a part of the cast. Without giving away too much of the story, suffice it to say that the main character in answering question on the quiz show is forced to look back into painful episodes in his past to get the answers. His story is told in a series of flashbacks starting from when he was a small boy in the slums. While his search for the girl that he loves is at the center of the film, there are big helpings of gut-wrenching drama at every turn. In short, “Slumdog's” infectious energy creates an adrenaline rush with its throbbing music, quick-paced narrative, and astonishing visuals. The story and the characters will stay with you and, most importantly, the film will leave a smile on your face.
