Slumdog Millionaire – Questions/Glaring hole?
Disclaimer: Please avoid this post if you haven’t seen the movie. If you have, come and join in the fun.
Quite a few questions came to my mind after watching the Slumdog millionaire. One thing followed to another and we(PFC authors) started debating on some of the things in the movie. The debate came to an interesting point and we thought of sharing it with everyone. It runs down as follows:
Tanul Thakur:
Just watched Slumdog Millinoaire. The first fifty minutes blew me apart. Absolutely brilliant execution. It is both exhilarating and breathtaking. But, after that the film kind of digresses and it became one of the movies that could have been. I have some questions,
-Since Jamal is a street guy, and as we all know the questions asked to him during the show was a part of his journey. And since he is a street boy(young is the point I want to stress), we don’t expect him to pick any subtelities, the facts learnt by him during the period should be ‘told’ to him or experienced ‘first hand’. But, some of the answers told by him looks as if the incident involved the particular thing but I fail to understand how he extracted(or learnt) an answer out of that. For instance, I can still expect that 4,000 Ram Bow-Arrow question, I’m even ready to buy that Surdas waala bhajan(though there is no discussion regarding who wrote the bhajan,when he was with the gang, and I mean why would anyone? It is just a gang who wants to earn money. Or, is it when Jamal grows up he sees the things in that context? Blind children connection to Surdas?).
-Also, his answering that Benjamin Franklin question looked a tad forced to me. I mean first of all why would he give his begger friend $100, when it is not going to be of any immediate use to him? Why not give him a mere 1,000 rupees?(If the intention was to help him). Logical and common sense. And then the boy explaining to him about who is on the note, it again looked a tad forced to me.
-Then the question of who invented the pistol? Only an incident is shown with the gun and his brother involved. How can that be related as to who invented the gun? Who will give a gyaan about who invented the gun amidst all that tension? The point I reiterate is the answer was not ‘learnt’ by Jamal during the incident, as far as I know(If I missed something here, please tell me, my girl friend told something was mentioned!)
-Now, the most important thing. Probably everyone knows this but why did no one touched upon this when analysing the movie. The show ‘Who wants to be a millinaire’ is *not* a live show, so the whole phone call thing, Latika escaping, police arresting, and all that drama is just for the sake of being drama. I didn’t like that. People murder a movie when there is a slight flaw, but this is a gaping hole, in my opinion.
-Why, oh why, is the host of the show shown to be a cunning, two faced sly man? All the hosts of the show(Big B, SRK)put the contestants at ease. SRK occasionally took the case of contestants, but nothing as severe as what Anil does here. Why? Because, he doesn’t want another Slumdog to become a millinoaire? Just like him? So he gives him the wrong answer? Why? Regis Philbin was nothing like what Anil is shown here. This is not ‘Kamzor Kadi Kaun’ or ‘Who is the Weakest link’, and even in these shows the host would like the contestants to win, unlike our Main-Grey-Hoon-Kapoor.So I didn’t see any explanations for Anil’s behaviour. Totally escaped me. And more than that, it comes as a shocker when it is shown that Anil is the man who is responsible for Jamal’s arrest.
-How can you just arrest someone on the mere’suspicion’ that he cheated? Without substantiated proof?(Or, can you? Not very certain on this ground, but still, just arresting and giving 3rd degree on a mere suspicion seems like stretching it a bit too far!) I’m sure the show organisers makes sure that no one cheats. Why weren’t they questioned?
These are some question that didn’t leave me. I would appreciate and be able to see the movie in a better light, if someone answers those questions for me. The first half of the movie is like a breath of fresh air, but these questions just refuses to leave me. Academic? Over analysing? Boring?
I want answers!
Shripriya:
Tanul,
- the beggar master says something like “it is his favorite surdas bhajan”.
- he gave the beggar boy $100 b/c that was the note he was given when the driverwallah beat the shit out of him and his tourist buddies gave him the note.
- the bro says something like “my colt will kill you” or some such thing.
- live show thing – yeah. that’s why you need the “willing suspension of disbelief” 
Why can’t the show host be cunning? It is a personality thing, not a show thing. It adds to the drama. If the host was a kind uncle type person where’s the added drama? Who cares if Regis and Amitabh are nice cuddly bears?? This guy isn’t and it makes it so much more interesting.
You can arrest anyone for anything if you are powerful enough in India and the person being arrested is a slumdog. That’s reality.
Tanul Thakur:
- One more point. Regarding ‘English’. Had they used English from start to beggining(as in, the characters conversing with each other), it would have been fine. Because, in that case, what it would have meant that the characters are just interacting, english is only a ‘medium’ to showcase what they are thinking/speaking. But, the movie wants us to see the young Jamal speaking in Hindi and couple of years later speaking in ‘correct english’ , that seemed more like a transition to me, without any proper explanation. How did he learn english during the period?( He could have, but the sudden turn around in the mode of communication didn’t sit pretty well). Same for his brother, Latika.
Tanul Thakur:
Shripriya,
Ok, I might have missed the point of the first three questions. But, I don’t quite agree with the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’, I didn’t went in expecting a fairy tale.
And why should the host be cunning? Just to add drama for the heck of it? Logically speaking, it doesn’t make any sense why would anyone want to piss the contestants off and jeopardise their own TRP’s(I may be taking it a bit too far, but still he didn’t ring very true and consistent to me). Zabardasti drame baaji, didn’t work for me.
Shripriya:
I think the suspension of disbelief is required to some degree to enjoy any fiction (here’s the history on the term – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief)
The host doesn’t *have* to be cunning. But why should he be bland?? You think hosts are bland b/c of Regis. But why can’t a host be vicious and mean spirited – wanting to pull down others? He’s not pissing off contestants. He is two faced. So, to the contestant, he seems like a nice guy. But in reality, he only wants them to go “so far”, but no further. Let’s say Jamal believed him and picked B, Ricky Ponting. What would Jamal do later – say the host lied to me? Who’d believe him? So, the host has an airtight way in which to get him.
Now, as to why the host does not want someone to succeed… from what I could get it is that he’s a rags to riches guy and he wants to be the only rags to riches guy around (for now anyway). He doesn’t want someone else to take the glory, the press and the adulation that comes with such a story. Is that strong enough motivation? I agree that it seems a bit stretched, but still within the realm of possibility for me. [Edited to add: His TRPs are guaranteed even with someone getting that far - a win is not needed]
OM:
Tanul..i too had a problem, coz there was no explanation, as to what was the motive behind AK to be cunning…but, then i made myself believe that, he is an individual..and every individual behaves differently in different situation…so no explanation was needed..it is how you take it. Others are answered by shripriya pretty precisely…
If you notice the film carefully..all the answers given by him to the questions posed to him..had life changing experience wrt to jamal..and if YOU too had to list 5 things in your life..you wud remember somethinh which had an effect on your life and not wat u ate at a restaurant, nai? plus..it was destiny as was made clear at the begining it self
OM:
“Now, as to why the host does not want someone to succeed… from what I could get it is that he’s a rags to riches guy and he wants to be the only rags to riches guy around”
Shripriya..this could be a very interesting topic to discuss and i was talking about it with my roomie too…the chracter that AK plays..is lying so much or conning or being mean..so, it could also mean that he as well might not have been the rags to riches guy..it was just a way to fool..it could be either ways..hence i loved AK’s character so much..there is soo much ambiguity in it…its a trip.
OM:
“why should the host be cunning? Just to add drama for the heck of it? ”
why does the sun rise from east? why is garvity downwards? why are villians always mean? why does rama has to win against ravana?
its a story yaar…thats the way you projected your characters..
Tanul Thakur
I do get the fact about the Suspension of disbelief, but when the whole movie hinged around it(especially the climax), it was just a tad difficult for me to gulp. Anyways, thanx for the answers!
Mitch
Guys its magic realism. If your looking for logic you won’t find it.
It’s majorly influenced by Midnight’s Children and I think that Jamal will be a better Salim Sinai than even the authorized version.
Tanul Thakur
@OM: Yaar, I still believe that Anil Kapoor waala angle was kinda forced. They could have done away with that ambiguity. Had they only left at the host being cunning, it would have been still okay with me. But, Kapoor making sure Jamal is arrested is really stretching it a bit too far. I mean he is a millinoaire, why the hell should he be bothered about a slumdog?( Or, was it *this* eccentrity in Kapoor’s character they wanted to portray). Escaped me. Totally.
OM
” I mean he is a millinoaire”
that was not explained..how did you get that?
Tanul Thakur
He himself tells it in the bathroom. And is that too difficult to guess? A guy hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire would surely be a guy with better standing!
Shripriya
@Mitch – oh yeah!! That is totally spot on. He would be a great Salim! I hope they pick him!!
OM
@ Tanul
“He himself tells it in the bathroom. And is that too difficult to guess? A guy hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire would surely be a guy with better standing! ”
ahahha..that answers your question brother…its waht you let yourself to believe..it is waht Shripriya says about willingness to suspend urself…and the thing he says in bathroom..is what he says to Jamal…he could as well have been lying..but its your willingness to believe it..and as i said..it was ambiguity of that character…would you believ such a cunning man or not..that makes it so much more interesting…
not trying to convince you, which is not possible, not just to you but anyone with a different pov, but, certain things one as a viewer takes it for granted, others dont, and others accept it in the whole milieu of situation..and there are others who dont bother abut it as there is more of much more importance happening around
but i am loving this debate here…plssss tanul take this to the main..you can quote me as it is…
Tanul Thakur
@OM: It is not about what I want to believe but that is what things *are*. Why would anyone but a celebrity host a show as famous as Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He has to be a known figure and thus, a celebrity. Even if he hadn’t told this in the bathroom, would it have been too difficult to guess? Or, for that matter, who hosts(or have hosted) the ‘major’ game shows on TV? It is/has been the stars.
What is your take on the whole thing? The character of Anil Kapoor, the suspension of disbelief, or anything related to the movie. Let us know!
Tags: anil kapoor, Danny Boyle, Debate, Grey character., Slumdog Millionaire
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I have’nt seen the movie..but could not resist skimmming through the post..for the gaping holes read the book..the linkages to all the 10 questions are well established there, though they are a tad bollywoodish and not entirely convincing..the book is ordinarily written so the screenplay is not gonna be tight..m sure the movie as such wud be much better.
Agree with Praneet. Reading the book would fill a lot of holes.
As for AK’s character, that is another hole in the screenplay that the book manages to deal with much more clearly. See, in the book, the AK character is a much more meatier character (the bathrooom sequence is very pivotal in the book) and is much more darker. Actually the book in itself was much more darker.
Like Praneet said, the book was cut out to be a Bollywood movie and seeing Boyle in the credits, I was hoping to see a much better movie than Slumdog turned out to be.
I think the subject/story would have been better served if the screenplay was to stick closely to the book.
I read the book a couple of years ago and then saw this movie. Maybe, now that you guys have seen the movie, you should try to read the book. I think you’d enjoy the book. It is evident that you have a lot of why’s floating around in your mind and the book will resolve all those questions nicely enough.
For me the only thing I felt hard to digest is after a person wins Rs. 2 crore, how can he sit all alone in the platform waiting for Latika?
That too with no media nothing (considering Indian media ;) )…and its only a few hours after he has won the show. Also no one seems to recognize him when entire India seems to have watched him win just a few hours ago.
For me the only thing I felt hard to digest is after a person wins Rs. 2 crore, how can he sit all alone in the platform waiting for Latika?
That too with no media nothing (considering Indian media ;) )…and its only a few hours after he has won the show. Also no one seems to recognize him when entire India seems to have watched him winning just a few hours ago.
I have seen the movie with great expectations and it was a huge disappointment. The novel is a mediocre material which has all hardcore Bollywood stuff, and after I have seen the movie I felt the novel far better. Regarding the gun scene, Salim only mentions its a “Colt Gun” and Jamal catches it, weird……….I have been following the Oscars for few years, and I ll be greatly disappointed and surprised if this movie gets into Oscars. I can’t understand why this average movie is creating such a buzz in Western media. I have always liked Danny Boyle’s movies (Tranispotting, Shallow Grave, 28 days later), but not this one.
and lots of things have been said about the screenwriter of this movie Simon Beaufoy and I found his oscar nominated movie “The Full Monty” average and for Slumdog his writing is below average………..apart from photography and music, I found nothing worth in the movie and regarding the last song when the credits roll, the dancing was pathetic to watch: compared to choreography standards of Bollywood……any day I ll watch Salaam Bombay than this ‘highly publicized movie’, if I want to watch a movie that deals with slums of Mumbai……
it’s a big goof-up that the show is “live” in India. but certain countries do air “who wants to be a millionaire” live. source:wikipedia.
The question for which i am looking for an answer is..how much does it affect the viewer in the process of watching the film in its enterity…to bask in the movie while watching it and to question it after you walk out, are two different things..if you were able to enjoy the film neglecting or over-seeing the holes in the script then, hey Boyle has done his job..he promised you what he delivered in those 2 hours..
here’s a great innerview of danny boy, and shooting in india etc. from The Onion.
http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/danny_boyle
@OM: There are several movies where I basked the entire thing without questioning. I think it all depends on the execution, if the direction is A class, the audience is sucked into believing what the director wants to show. Alfred Hitchcock said this to be ,where drama begins logic ends. For instance, in the movie Black Friday Dawood Ibrahim(Vijay Maurya) is shown to be wearing shades inside his house. At all times. Now, who would wear shades inside one’s house, but since the direction and pace was too fucking gripping, most of the audience ignored it. Also, it didn’t bother to anyone when analysing the movie in the long run. RGV also writes about 2-3 incidents from his movie, where he felt his execution overpowered the logical flaw in the story.
http://rgvarma.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=amonth%3d9%26ayear%3d2008.
He has explained this in an answer to the third question, giving examples from movies like Satya, Rangeela. etc.
@Anantha: Has the character of AK been developed more properly in the book? If yes, how?
Tanul- you should not search too hard for answers because as the movie tells you -
IT IS WRITTEN
I hope I am recalling correctly what Danny Boyle said at MIAAC. I think he said he originally wanted Ram to appear to Jamal on a rioter’s T-shirt, but it didn’t pop out enough, so he resorted to making Ram a “vision” that came to Jamal while he was running. That supports Mitch’s magical realism reading of the movie.
Did you really expect this movie to be completely factual and ‘tight’?
I mean come on, it’s not a Scorsese drama, it’s an adventure.
Can you do me a favor and slice up Batman for me too.
Tanul, it’s interesting to note how a mediocre, wannabe director like RGV compares to Danny Boyle…shooting in Bombay of all places, which supposedly is rgv’s ‘home turf’….Danny’s blown all these so called ‘realist’ Indian directors apart…
i agree with tanul regarding the colt question..salim hardly says colt properly n Jamal catches it..too much to believe.. in the book the host is not the reason for the heros arrest..the channel producers have a lot to do with it..n the host behaves in a mean manner due to the producers..
in the movie i dont think surdas was mentioned by maman..also i wasnt convinced by the chaiwala taking over the shift bit..n when the centers servicing scottish customers how come they have a software that lists down all the mumbai numbers..but still cant deny the fact that the movie still provided entertainment n worked for me..the book was filmi n even the movie was filmi
Grant that his experiences led Dip Stick to know all ten answers. Then the probability that those questions would be put exactly in the same order as the traumas occurred is about one in a million. Serendipity!
well, for all you guys cursing RGV (he deserves it after his AAG), i found his Satya much better than this slumdog, in terms of depiction, characterization, all that. amazing how we are so forgiving towards the gaping holes in the script- live tv, accent of the grownups, questions, etc. I mean, people here would normally tear apart any other movie (bollywood) for minor holes in the script. for me, it was a well made, well executed movie, but nothing great, and not even near to cult/masterpiece.
the firangi accent really annoyed me, though!
I’m on board with many unanswered questions. And as far as the “suspension of disbelief,” that’s all fine and all, but a movie needs to be consistent. I can believe in ET for example and suspend my belief for 2 hours, but if ET had all of a sudden started speaking perfect English in a clear non raspy voice and perhaps started to sing rap after clearly having JUST learned his first words, I would have had questions. JUST as I did here.
I had the SAME colt/gun question- even though I heard the colt reference the brother mentioned. Sure, Jamal heard his brother say something about a colt and that stuck with him, but KNOWING that was the answer- how did he know it was the make of the gun and not some slang term his brother knew of?
Also, HUGE time gap. I cared more about the kids as young and pre-teens. Those were great transitions. But then we go from tweens straight to young adults- WTF??!! What happened in between? So from apprx. the age of 11-13 till Jamal was 18 or so with a “real” job “destiny” took a break and NOTHING happened to influence his questions and answers on the show? Weird. The director was so meticulous about detail and showing the childrens’ journies- how could he just then JUMP to adult hood without showing ANYTHING in between? Jamal went from tween scam artist and swindler to wroking a real job? (yes he worked at a restaurant as a kid but we saw that transition). Weird. What happened during those still formative years? How did he eat? How did he stay on the straight and narrow? Where did he sleep?
Also, the police asked Jamal if he had ever seen “them” agan.” Referncing Salim and Latika. Jamal lied. He said something like “if I had I wouldn’t be sitting here now.” But then later we learn he HAD seen them. he saw his brother at the construction site and then Latika at the mansion. THEN Jamal went on the show and was interrogated. So he lied. OR it’s a flaw in the script.
The story starts out leading us to believe that this will be more of a human rights issue. You can’t torture someone under arrest and then ignore the fact that you just showed the audience that! We want to know that someone will follow up on that! I know it’s India and I get that anyone can be dragged away at any time, but since THAT is a HUGE part of the movie from the start… simulated drowing, electrocution… the audience wants to see something done about it. Don’t change it to a love story in the middle! Good lord.
Also, Jamal seemd to be in relatively little to no discomfort AND NO MARKS/SCARS when he went back on the show LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER BEING tortured. Huh. Weird even for India.
Look, I can “suspend” my belief to buy into the fact that the show was aired live (it’s India- they may do it differently). I can buy that the kids fought back and escaped the “orphanage.” I can even buy that a slumdog would even be allowed on TV in India (big on the class system over there). But I CAN’T buy into the fact that Latika was watching the show on TV…. and made it back in time to answer the phone in the car. Plus she would never have left it there.
One more thing: he’s a slumdog. He lied to survive. He lived on the streets. He lied and made up stories when he gave tours around the city. How do we know his stories on how he knew the answers weren’t lies?
Food for thought as we watch it take home an inevitable Oscar.
*sigh
Just saw the movie and found it fabulous..one question what was the symbolism of the money in the tub? Have my idea, but would love to hear more.
thanks
shut up, all of you. this is , was and will be the best movie of the year 2008.
I saw this movie in LA and was completely spellbound by it. Just wondering if this movie was directed by an Indian (Bollywood) director would they have done justice to the script and also would it have been a world wide sensation as it is now.
Hello All the reason why the host is so Cunning is because……DUH! It is his own show! It is his money that he has to give to Jamal if he wins…You think money falls from the sky? Now who agrees with me?
1.How did jamal n his bro reached agra while they were suppose to be at mumbai slums??`
2.Did the foreigners at taj mahal didn’t got an elder guide than jamal?
3.Jamal,a slumdog knew english ??
The whole movie seems to me just like another teleserial, didn’t had the quality of a real movie….just a scrap!!
Why are all those slang words used in the movie?? India is suppose to be a nation of culturally and socially conscious people who mind their tongues atleast in movies !! That too when it is going international…
The film has no soul. This is not masala, this is filtered masala. And the worst treatment possible to an electric Jai Ho. wtf.
@reader – Brush up your english man. Doesnt look too good on a good forum this this.
The reason the host fed Jamal the wrong answer and was being “mean” and “cunning” wasn’t just because he wanted to be the only rags to riches story around, it was also because he expected him of cheating! It’s bloody obvious. He told the producer when Jamal was being arrested. There’s no way a slumdog would know the answers to all 20 of those questions, that was the whole point.
“It was written.”
The fact that Jamal came across the answers to all the questions during his life through coincidence is totally implausible and is meant to show that his winning was predestined.
So OBVIOUSLY the host is going to be suspicious.
Tom: The host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire does NOT have to front the cash himself you idiot.
“How can you just arrest someone on the mere ’suspicion’ that he cheated? Without substantiated proof?(Or, can you? Not very certain on this ground, but still, just arresting and giving 3rd degree on a mere suspicion seems like stretching it a bit too far!)”
Well, if you have ever really lived in India, you would know that the above is entirely plausible. If you were to tell an Indian in India that some poor guy was taken to the police station and beaten up, and there were no adverse consequences to the policemen, it would not even raise an eyebrow!
The actor is a street guy with a moral good character. He has a numerous experiences from his struggling beggar life. It shows that experiences in a downtrodden life are well memorized. Some may say the recollection of his experiences is not relevant to the questions. But in my viewpoint, I can understand how and why these difficult questions can be answered from one’s experiences. It is simple, the whole parts of his life are not telecast, and rather only the important parts were expose to be seen. To support my argument, lets see the answer of pistol inventor. The movie does not show how, where and when did he come to know the inventor of pistol. It is understand that if someone posses something important, a curious person must know the pros and cons of the items which he posses.
I have another question: How come Jamal got to site in the HOT seat without first winning ht efastest finger first part. That is also a nerve wrecking part of the game and one needs to know those answers inthe correct sequence..na??
Hello everyone,
I saw this movie yesterday and missed the logic of Jamal’s reply to inspector, on second question. When police asks Jamal about how come he didn’t know such a simple answer, Jamal says something about the Pani poori price and about the cycle theft. Can anyone please explain what Jamal was trying to convey and why police was satisfied with it ?
Thanks
Ravi
This Movie is basicaly a movie with hidden agenda nad this movie has evrything keeping in mind of the western feelings about india rather than for indian masses.
1)India is a place of poverty (this gives satisfaction to the west that cant digest that india is progressing)
2)Indians dont care for the human rights and Poor like the huge sikh dragging the kid from the top of the train.
3)India is a place where Musilms are persicuted(they could have showed someone dressed as ram saveing the kids and that would have greater impact on a kids mind than seeing some one in the middle of choas and that would have showed the spirit of india but they dont want that picture for outside world)
4)Showed all the forigeners as good and nice people who gave money inspite of being robbed, and dumb enough to offer belive his stories of traffic accident and give him money(offcourse they are dumb to give awards)
5)many people say it is the undderbelly of india and ask you guys howmany of you jumpedinto a shit to get autographs? how many of you killed or ill treated a muslim? this is a drama to show the west what they want to see and feel proud about and not for indians.
examples
instead of sachin they showed jack hobbs so that english men feeling envious about sachin could feel proud.
showed that india is progressing at the expense of the poor.
showed indians dont help fellow indians but take help from forigeners(there is a lot of concetration on this issue in recent years about this that india takeing lot of money from englad while it launches chandrayan)
showed indian police have no regrard for human rights.
this message is well taken by the west when they spoke to me they spoke to me all about those i mentioned above.
the truth says otherwise
one painter in Indian Ideol was a voted to alomost till top three just because he is poor.
Try disrespecting a Poor man in india you are a deadman in no time just nameing the movie Billu braber the barbers were upset. and in show the money is never payed by the host, but payed by the sponserer and they care more about trp rating and slumdog becoming rich is a great story and they would want him to win unlike in the movie
in the west esp england rediculing poor and badly dressed people is a common pratice but it is not like that in india atleast i never came across such behaviour.
anyways it is a movie for the west and people who did the movie did a great job selling their motherland to the west.
if you still think they did a great job and happy that a indian movie madeit to the west you are one amongthose who is not comfatable being indian and value more west like speeking in english is considered by many as great while speeking in hindi is low class.
if they really had good intentions in mind ask them to donate all the profits and award money to slums in india.
and also make a movie about poor amirican black teenage mother from a bad neighbourhood helped by muslims.(and it is true) and get a award for that.
thanks
and about the questions posed here
The show is never set by the host but a questioner and randomised by a computer so host would not know the next question in reality. so it actually a movie of fiction not reality.
so why do they want to disguze the reality in a fiction??? people in the west like real stories like in the movie the western says he wants to see real india. lets say i take him to my home give him good food he wont be satisfied he wants to see the real india which he thinks is real, that is poverty.
I ask one simple question why they dont show poverty in USA??? becuase people have steriotyped ideas of the world west is rich and with human values and the east is place for beggers and west teaches us how to live.
lastly I dont know how Indians are feeling so happy about this movie winning awards, I didnot find even onething to feel proud about india say to my friends look this is india this is what we are.
and I dont think anyone in slums want to watch this kind of movies becuase they want enetertainment not movie which redicules their lives.
So how did he get picked to go on the show? I know he mentioned, while working at the call center, that you have to call the number when the host says “if” but did it actually show him calling?
@ Ravi
Yes, i too didn’t understand the logic of teh answer for question No.2
I think jamal was trying to say that truth never wins in India or something like that…
He says to inspector that “Who stolen the bicycle of headconistable ? Inspector asks “Who ? ” Jamal replies everybody in that area know that even a 5 year child”
I think he is trying to explain them (Inspector & conistable) that truth will never triuph in India.
I guess sooo
If anybody know more plz share
what was with the child in the beginning chase scene who was painted blue and wearing traditional indian costume, later refered to in one of the questions regarding the bow and arrow he was holding in his right hand?
Sorry that I didn’t have time to read every comment, so I hope I’m not duplicating. I also found the Colt and the $100 to be gaping holes. I didn’t even think of the taping issue (duh) but I do know that, at least in the U.S., contestants are not allowed to talk to the host outside of taping to avoid even being accused of cheating. I’m sure Regis has his own bathroom and the contestants have theirs. There are companies that insure these shows and they need to ensure the show’s integrity.
Actually in real life, contestants go through a screening process, which I’m sure they do in India too, and he would have had to pass an initial test that would be quite difficult AND — more importantly to me — he would have had to show personality. They want lively, vivacious people, not stone faces, no matter how well they do on a test. Yes, people get nervous but he only cracked a smile maybe once.
In fact, people might not even root for him if he didn’t show the proper amount of excitement. Did anyone see the video of a couple who learned they won the HGTV Dream House a couple of years ago and they were just like, oh that’s nice. People got UPSET because of course everybody feels they should have won instead.
And I totally didn’t understand the blue Lord Rama appearing there. I read elsewhere that the attackers would have dressed up a child and brought him with them, kind of a mascot? That just seems so odd.
Why would someone who had won so much money at the end of the first night allow himself to be tortured? and why would the police be involved in the torture? Surely the police know that lawyers would be able to sue them for false arrest and torture, after all it’s not Guant'¡namo Bay. When Jamal was given the wrong answer, I believe he chose the other answer because he is honest, he didn’t want to cheat. For those interested you can find the full script of this film and others on the internet, just do the Google search. Rated the number 31 movie of all time, the consensus of all professional reviewers was: “Visually dazzling and emotionally resonant, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that’s both entertaining and powerful”.
I enjoyed the film with all its faults, it’s not a documentary so I watched the movie to enjoy it, expecting some things would challenge, I was not prepared to hack it up. The child abuse shown with the deliberate blinding had me checking to see if it was true, sadly it is and so is breaking of limbs, not only in India but in other countries, it is rare and not sanctioned by any government. The following script concerns the colt 45;
“Salim slams the door. Jamal gets up, bangs on the door,
keeps on banging until the door opens and Salim stands
there with the pistol pointing straight at Jamal’s
head.
SALIM
The man with the Colt 45 says”, surely with a colt 45 pointed at your head, you would not forget the words! Jamal spoke the only name that he had heard about a revolver, fortunately he was right.
Ravi, question 2 comments, Jamal is simply saying that none of us knows everything, the police do not know some things that Jamal knows and vice versa.
For Kimberley “Also, the police asked Jamal if he had ever seen “them” again.” Referencing Salim and Latika. Jamal lied. He said something like “if I had I wouldn’t be sitting here now.” I noticed this lie, it was more about withholding information, a white lie, but what was Jamal to say? Yes, Latika is living with a gangster and Salim who killed Mamam is working for him. Later Jamal does answer the question, copied from the script;
“INSPECTOR
You puzzle me, Slumdog.
Admitting murder to avoid a
charge of fraud is not exactly
clever thinking. Now, why would
you do that?”
There are so many criticisms about the missing years. The film Australia is about 3 hours long, I have heard nothing but complaints about the length of the film. Film making is subject to the commercial realities of the real world, about 2 hours seems the limit for the attention of the audience, more than that and you risk putting them to sleep.
The question we should consider is this, if we must compress probably 6 months to one year of shooting to 2 HOURS, what parts do we leave out? I believe the film does not lose continuity, the story flows freely and raises few questions. All films that I’ve seen adapted from a book have the same problem, so we see the removal of parts not vital to the plot.
I must thank all the people who provided links, they were all interesting.
Matta, I shall address only some of your assertions, otherwise I’ll write a book, too long for this forum. I believe your feelings expressed in most of your questions are not shared by the “West”
1. We know India is fast becoming one of the great democracies of the world, to see India prosper by its own hard work is welcomed, India has EARNED the respect of the West. I use computer software developed in India, not because it’s cheaper, it’s better! All developing economies face exploitation but that tends to diminish in time and there will always be a gap between rich and poor, everywhere.
2. India cares about human rights, for such a large country the progress has been relatively good, but still too slow to satisfy the whole population, though it’s heading in the right direction, while other countries’ human rights are going backwards. Exploitation of the poor is no worse than in other developing countries, such as in South East Asia, Africa and Central America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_India
3. Religious violence is a matter of fact, it is part of the history of India and now in the present, always caused by MINORITY groups. In most parts of India the Hindus, Muslims and others live together and set a fine example for the rest of the world.
Great work! that is why it received the oscars
sorry if someone has already pointed this out (this page is looong), but the reason they spoke in hindi for the first half of the movie is because the child actors didn’t speak any english. they just pulled them right out of indian slums. if you look up the ryan seacrest interview on youtube, all the kid knows how to say is “my name is ____”
After reviewing the comments on this site, I have concluded two things. First, the responses are overwhelmengly Indiocentric, and there is an understandable protective impulse toward defending Indian culture and identity. The second is my impression that many viewers of “Slumdog” are debating the plausability of many of the characters and details within the plot of the story.
I don’t want to dissect the entire movie, only make this one point in defence of “Slumdog.” The viewer must keep in mind that Jamal didn’t appear on the show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” to become a millionaire — he went on the show to find his love — Latika. The whole movie tells the story of a world conspiring against this young boy born in the slums of Mumbai … but somehow “it is written” that he will overcome impossible odds to find happiness, and love. All of the characters, from the ruthless gangsters to the conniving talk-show hosts, do not reflect Indian culture at all. They are metaphors for obstacles, and our hero does what all heroes do, whether its Odysseus or Ghandiji … he overcomes impossible odds and triumphs. “Slumdog” delivers this story brilliantly.
Correction. Meant to type ‘Ghandigi’ — apologies.
wow people are sooooo concrete. Life isn’t logical and consistent nor people. Why does the script need to be. The movie drew a very compelling picture of a world that can deliver slums, war’s etc etc and peopled by characters that exploit other’s ruthlessly.
It’s no surprise that people get hung up on the detail of the movie and miss the point. After all that’s what we do in life generally. If we didn’t the world would be a different and better place. bu it’s not.