February 2009

With the Oscar nominations being announced recently I thought I’d offer a few thoughts on a little movie that’s suddenly captured a lot of attention — Slumdog Millionaire. When I saw this movie I enjoyed the cinematography and storytelling, but I also wrote it off as a bit of a superficial ‘feel good movie of the year’ type of film. To be honest, I didn’t give much thought until I ran into a commentary piece in the Ottawa Citizen written by a friend who’d recently immigrated to Canada from India.  

Without giving too much away, the movie is on the surface a tale about a child who grew up in the slums of Mumbai.Throughout his journey he faces persecution from police, organized crime, and violent religious factions. He lives hand-to-mouth whatever his surroundings — slums, garbage dumps, or call centres — but through a series of events finds himself as a contestant on an Indian version of ‘Who Wants To Be a Millionaire’.