Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Celador Films/Film4/Pathé Distribution 📢 Director: Danny Boyle. 💰 Producer: Christian Colson. 👫 Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan. 🏆 Awards ceremony: -81st Academy Awards: February 22, 2009. Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. 🎭 Other films nominated for Best Picture this year: -The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. -Frost/Nixon. -Milk. -The Reader. 📕 Plot summary: An 18 year-old Indian call centre attendant boy is on the verge of becoming a millionaire on a popular television game show when suspicions are raised over the credibility of his knowledge. As he is tortured and interrogated by the police over his alleged cheating, the boy recalls how he knew the answers to the questions by reliving events from his childhood and growing up in poverty in a slum neighbourhood in Mumbai. 💥 Standout scene(s): There is just no forgetting one scene where a young boy who has just taken a sloppy crap in an outdoor shack, makes his escape through the hole in the floor her has just 'used' and drops down into a pool of disgusting slop which covers him completely in shit. He then runs excitedly towards a famous celebrity who has just arrived and asks for him for his autograph! 🔑 Facts: -The 81st Academy Awards. -Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, it won 8: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay (adapted), Cinematography, Editing, Original Score, Original Song 'Jai Ho', Sound Mixing. 🙂 Personal opinion: I watched this film for the first time when I undertook this project and it was one of those films that just sits on your shelf without any intention of EVER wanting to sit through it! The title, the cast of nobodys and the plot summary of the film didn't fill me with much enthusiasm. But I got on with it and 2 hours later it was done and dusted. I just couldn't get excited about the story but I accept there is an element in the back story that was interesting to watch. The game show host is a tool and somebody who really needs a kick up his arse. It's not as bad as you probably expect it to be and I was able to finish it in one sitting and appreciate certain qualities about it. I have no intention of ever seeing it again though. Better than I thought it would be. Did it deserve the Oscar? ✅YES, but only just. To be honest there wasn't a hell of a lot of options to choose from in 2008. 5/10

Review date: 11 June 2025