Slumdog Millionaire -- the defining moment

Little Jamal jumps into a pit of shit just to get the autograph of his favorite movie star Amitabh Bachaan. Although many dont seem to be comfortable with such down to earth portrayal of ghastly realities which still exists in our slums. Poverty is so ubiquitous in our country. Walk down the streets and you will be rounded up by children begging for alms. They won't leave any stone unturned to exploit the faintest bit of compassion that you have and ultimately you will end up giving them something. Some people refrain from giving alms to such children for which they have palpable reasons and rightly so. There also exist a third kind who try to drive them away like dogs. Therefore although there have been some controversy about the title "Slumdog Millionaire" its not totally unjustified. Director Danny Boyle might not be the kind of a person who would search for an euphemism for the title atleast. So in a way the title itself speaks volumes about what lies underneath. That it would be bereft of any sort of flavourings whatsoever. And this is exactly what has appealed to audiences across the globe who are singing paeans of its cinematic elegance. In many television interviews the crew has admitted that they casted children from the slums to do the roles of little Jamal, Salim and Latika the three leading protagonist of the movie.
The quiz show serves as a bedrock of the entire movie. The whole plot revolves around the questions asked by the host on the popular television show "Who wants to be a millionaire".The plot has a great degree of depth and the credit goes to Vikas Swarup a serving Indian Foreign Service officer.The movie is based on his debut novel "Q and A" which is already hitting the best sellers list. It is quite clear that each of the questions has been deliberately chosen to unravel a new chapter in the life of the protagonist. Although poverty in slums remains the centrepiece of the plot it also brings to limelight many other interesting facets of India. It depicts how little children are maimed for life and thereby forced to embrace begging as a profession. It has the element of romance. The rivalry between local gangs ready to shed blood at the slightest provocation. And the background score by AR Rahman just creates the much needed mood. It has already fetched him the golden globe and has made him a strong contender for the Academy awards in which he has three nominations in his kitty. And last but not the least the movie ends with the song "Jai Ho" giving it the typical Indian touch. Some cynnics believe that we are being unreasonably euphoric about the film. They argue that although the cast of the film is almost entirely Indian technically it is a British film.
It has been seen in the past that such films raise a lot of hue and cry in the country. But on the contrary Slumdog Millioanaire hasn't invited a great deal of criticism. This is primarily because of the unprecedented recognition it has received the world over. The film has been seen with a great deal of optimism and it has laid the ground for Indian films in the international arena. Indian cinema has evolved substantially over the years. As a deviation from the traditional trend many low budget films like Dil Chahta Hai, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Taare Zammen Par have done exceptionally well. It seems the audience is becoming increasingly mature and are ready to settle for nothing less.