Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire is an 8 academy award winning film, adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel Q&A (2005) and directed by Danny Boyle. The film received critical acclaim throughout the industry for being an inspirational feel good film.
The movie revolves around a teenage boy named Jamal Malik who grew up in the Juhu Slums of India, becoming a contestant on India’s version of the British game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” during which he is arrested due to the belief that someone from his upbringing should not be able to get that far in the competition without cheating.
The film is transnational in many ways, the first being that it was adapted from an Indian novel, by a British director. Pathe is a French film company, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an Indian adaption of a British game show and much of the cast are Indian or of Asian descent, including British actor Dev Patel who plays the lead role, the song “Jai Ho” by Indian singer A.R. Rahman, which featured Urdu, Punjabi, Spanish and Hindi lyrics, was re-released featuring American girl group The Pussycat Dolls not long after the film was released featuring an English translation of Rahman’s original song while including some of his original lyrics. The film is also transnational in that it utilizes Indian culture and the plot deals exclusively with the flaws of the Indian ‘Caste’ system from the point of view of the oppressed, supporting Spivak’s idea of “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, in that it follows the trials and tribulations of an Indian boy who grew up in the slums through such hardships as his mother dying and tells it from his own point of view.
The movie revolves around a teenage boy named Jamal Malik who grew up in the Juhu Slums of India, becoming a contestant on India’s version of the British game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” during which he is arrested due to the belief that someone from his upbringing should not be able to get that far in the competition without cheating.
The film is transnational in many ways, the first being that it was adapted from an Indian novel, by a British director. Pathe is a French film company, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an Indian adaption of a British game show and much of the cast are Indian or of Asian descent, including British actor Dev Patel who plays the lead role, the song “Jai Ho” by Indian singer A.R. Rahman, which featured Urdu, Punjabi, Spanish and Hindi lyrics, was re-released featuring American girl group The Pussycat Dolls not long after the film was released featuring an English translation of Rahman’s original song while including some of his original lyrics. The film is also transnational in that it utilizes Indian culture and the plot deals exclusively with the flaws of the Indian ‘Caste’ system from the point of view of the oppressed, supporting Spivak’s idea of “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, in that it follows the trials and tribulations of an Indian boy who grew up in the slums through such hardships as his mother dying and tells it from his own point of view.