Slumdog Millionaire is the creation of Danny Boyle, 53, from Manchester, northern England. He loves Scotland. He is famous for Trainspotting (1996) and the gruesome 28 Days Later (2002). My favourite film of his is Millions (2004) - see Mmegi 26 November 2006. Millions is the story of young Damien who, when playing in his cardboard hut by the train tracks, a bag of 229,527 Great Britain Pounds lands next to him (soon to be valueless because the Euro is coming). Damien, in his naive and childish innocence, believes it is a gift from God, and acts accordingly, while the train robbers are looking for him. The message in Boyle's films is that "life is worth living".

Slumdog Millionaire features Jamal Malik (acted when little by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar; when around 12 by Tanay Hemant Chheda; and at 19 going on 20, by Dev Patel). When the movie opens Jamal, who has managed to get on the Mumbai TV game show hosted by a greasy Prem (Bollywood star Anil Kapoor), "So you want to be a millionaire?", is  in the hands of the police. Jamal is subject to a brutal inquisition by Sergeant Srinivas (Saurabh Shukla) and a police detective, Inspector Irrfan Khan (Prem Anil Kapoor), who believes that Jamal has secretly tricked the show. Jamal has worked his way up to the 10-million rupee question and is now ready for the 20-million shot (the last one). Khan says to Jamal: "Tell me how you cheated." How could a "chai-wallah" serving tea in a call centre know all the answers?

Jamal is innocent, but the answers to all the questions he is asked are all by chance part of his past life. The truth is in his past, and the movie takes us back and forth into the time when he was seven, 12 and at 19. Jamal and his older brother Salim (played across the three periods by Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail; Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala; and Madhur Mittal), after their mother (Sanchita Choudhary) died in an anti-Muslim riot, became street kids and masters of the art of survival in the slums.

At an early age Jamal is smitten by the beautiful Latika (acted when little by Rubina Ali; when around 12 by Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar; and at 19 by Freida Pinto). The brothers are the two Musketeers, and Latika becomes the third. Taken in by a Dickensian type character, Jamal and Salim are deceived by their seeming generosity, saying: "If we get seconds he really must be a saint." When Jamal observes a young boy having his eyes removed, he realises they are being reduced to beggars to support their new benefactors. When the brothers flee they are forced to leave Latika behind, much to Jamal's distress. He pines for her over the ensuing years.

To the police investigating Jamal's case, they cannot understand how he can know which American president is on the US$100 note, and not know that Mahatma Gandhi is on the Indian 1,000 rupee bill. But flashbacks to Jamal's past bring out his twisted knowledge and why he knows, from their days at Agra, about Benjamin Franklin and not about Gandhi. This is the downside (or is it upside?) of deceiving American tourists. Jamal tells the policemen that he knew the answer because it was in his line of work, but on Gandhi, that "they didn't ask me that question".

Jamal's knowledge of who invented the revolver comes from another direct experience in the slums, as did what Rama holds in his right hand, or where "Oxford Circus" is. The most hilarious source of knowledge involves an Indian film star, a famous song, and a filthy pit latrine in the slums. Another question is to name the third Musketeer in Dumas's novel. Jamal knows it is not Latika, but then who is it?

As a late adolescent Salim has moved up into the "centre of the centre". He now works for the Boss. Jamal continues to believe in Salim, even when warned not to. Salim cannot comprehend why Jamal has not forgotten Latika. How can he look for her when there are 19 million people in Mumbai? Eventually Jamal learns that she is called "Cherry" and lives on Pila Street. His brother tells him that he'll "be singing at his funeral" if he continues to seek out Latika. But this film is an escapist fantasy; you know from the beginning the hero will win and get his girl.

Boyle plays the various chords that hold this film together rapidly and adroitly, thus a film about suffering, violence and the exploitation of children can be labelled the "Feel Good Film of the Decade". It may be good entertainment, but it certainly should not leave you feeling good. When Jamal and Salim look out from the top of one of the new Mumbai skyscrapers, they note that this used to be "our slum". But the millions of slum people still exist, they've just been pushed aside to make way for the rich and famous. Other films come to grips with the realities of slum life in India far better, including Born into Brothels (Mmegi 6 September 2006) and Salaam Bombay (1988).

Slumdog Millionaire is one hour and 56 minutes long and is rated 13+.

It was filmed at Agra and at Juhu in Mumbai (Bombay), part of Maharashtra, India. The directors are Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. The script is by Simon Beaufoy from the novel Q&A (2005) by Vikas Swarup - an historian who comes from a family of lawyers - now a diplomat, he is India's Deputy High Commissioner in Pretoria, South Africa. He says of the hullabaloo: "I would have liked to be made to feel more part of it ... because, after all, without my story there would be no Slumdog Millionaire." The editor is Chris Dickens.

The cinematographer is Anthony Dod Mantle. The music is by A. R. Rahman, who won two Oscars - he is called "India's most popular composer".

Email: sasa_majuma@yahoo.co.uk