Great story, but hard to not think about the importance of family planning (7.5/10)

Jamal Malik: If it wasn’t for Ram or Allah, we’d still have a mother.

Actually, during my time at the theater, I don’t remember hearing that quote from the lead character.  A fantastic statement.  It points to a relatively graphic scene earlier in the movie where a bunch of slum men apparently of one superstitious conviction (Ram?) attack with sticks and fire bombs another bunch of poor people of a (presumed) different superstitious conviction (Allah?).  Jamal’s mother is one of the victims.
It’s quite sad and senseless.

Jamal sits on the stage of a popular Indian “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” show; and remarkably he’s answering a series of multiple choice questions correctly. [Jamal comes from nowhere and the more he wins, the more the host of the show Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) and his henchmen try to “convince” Jamal that he’s cheating.]  Through flashbacks ingeniously called up by the questions, we get the entire story of his 18-something life… how he grew up in the slums and worked his way into a job running tea for customer service telephone centers, and somehow was on the line when the show called. Continue reading →