Director Danny Boyle has made a cross-cultural milestone that plays with the edgy energy of “Trainspotting,” albeit with considerable influence from its vibrant Mumbai (formerly Bombay) locations and talented cast.
Based on a novel by Vikas Swarup, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy’s terse script pedals between the set of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” a hugely popular Indian television game show, and the past life of 18-year-old “slumdog” orphan Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), as it informs his correct answers to multiple choice questions that have won him 10 million rupees so far.
On the eve of Jamal’s return to the show, where he will answer one last question that could double his winnings, the show’s suspicious host Prem (Anil Kapoor) sends the boy to be interrogated by a local police inspector (Irrfan Khan) to discover if and how the uneducated boy cheated.
Flashbacks reveal Jamal’s troubled childhood that saw his mother brutally murdered during a random attack against Muslims inside their impoverished ghetto.
The vastly different trajectory of Jamal and his criminal brother Salim finds uncomfortable unity in the boys’ mutual attraction for a girl named Latika. A propulsive musical score helps define the unbridled joy that underlies every frame of this fast-paced explosion of spectacle, emotion, comedy, and drama.
When the film’s climax peaks with an infectious song and dance performance, you can’t help but feel elated.
Floating.
Jai Ho!
(Fox Searchlight) Rated R. 116 mins.
