Skip Channel4 main Navigation
Explore Channel4
Food
Homes
Film
4Car
News
See All
Slumdog Millionaire 120 minutes, UK/USA (2008), 15
(5.0)
Rating: 5.0 Stars
Our rating:
Average user rating (3.6 / 531 votes)
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar in Slumdog Millionaire

An orphaned Mumbai slum kid tries to change his life by winning TV's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' in Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning fable

Slumdog Millionaire Review

Our rating:
Rating: 5.0 Stars
(5.0)

An orphaned Mumbai slum kid tries to change his life by winning TV's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' in Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning fable

Jamal Malik ('Skins' star Dev Patel) is being beaten by Mumbai police for allegedly cheating on hit TV show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' One question away from the ultimate 20 million rupee prize, no one, including slick show host Prem (Anil Kapoor), believes a chai wallah (teaboy) like Jamal could know all the answers. As the tough inspector (Irfan Khan) replays Jamal's appearance on the show, it's revealed that each question corresponds to a specific life lesson from Jamal's tragic past.

Raised in abject poverty in Mumbai's grimmest slum along with older brother Salim, then orphaned by a Hindu mob attack, Jamal and Salim are forced to fend for themselves on the streets through opportunistic petty crime. They pick up a young girl, fellow orphan Latika (Freida Pinto), escape the clutches of a vicious Fagin-like crime boss, lose Latika, and continue their picaresque adventures, one step ahead of the law. As adolescents, however, Salim becomes entranced by a life of crime and Latika's unexpected return sets brother against brother. Will Jamal salvage his girl, his fortune and his life on 'Millionaire'?
"Revels in the sub-continent's chaotic beauty and raging colours" Continue reading
Agree or differ with this review? Write your reviews

In our cinema section

Advertisement

Today on Film4 Fri 27 Nov

Apocalypse Now 21:00

Apocalypse Now
Martin Sheen journeys through Vietnam and Cambodia to terminate flipped-out renegade US colonel Marlon Brando. But his mission becomes a screaming trip into madness, stunningly realised by Coppola's hallucinogenic direction and a cast dragged from Hollywood's Narcotics Anonymous

Latest Films

In Cinemas

On DVD

UK Box Office
Top 10


Channel 4 © 2009. Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.