The novel, Slumdog Millionaire, written by Vikas Swarup, invigorates the readers by depicting the real India to his audience by writing about the true atmosphere and characters living in the dumps of Mumbai. Danny Boyle's re-creation of the film somewhat captures the spirit of the book but the film does not show us the true personality of the main character, Jamal.
In the film, there are many flashbacks throughout the " Who Wants to be a Millionaire" TV show of Jamal's life and through these remembrances, the explanation of how he knows all the answers to the questions on the show are revealed. The film captures the spirit of the book through the beginning scenes; there are many images of the slums and hardships that children in India have to experience through their entire lives. There is a scene in the film whereby Jamal is a young boy and he has to use the public bathroom and one of his friends purposely locks him inside just as a famous Indian celebrity arrives in his helicopter and is Jamal's idol. Jamal literally has to jump down in to the pile of feces, sprinting to obtain the cherished autograph of his idol. This part of the film truly captures the spirit of the book as it depicts how determined this young, poor kid is as he fights to get what he wants- in this case, the autograph of a famous person. The book emphasises the desperation which poverty-stricken children will go in order to achieve what they desire.
Nevertheless, the film does not capture the spirit of the book because of the weak characterisation of Jamal. As the story begins both in the book and in the film, Jamal is a Chai-La (Tea pourer) in a telecommunications company in Mumbai. He get's the opportunity to appear as a contestant on the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" TV programme and as sweet as this may sound, the only motive for Jamal to appear on the program is to get the attention of his long lost love, Latika. The novel uses a great deal of dialogue that allows the reader to understand Jamal's thinking, revealing his character traits such as determination, selflessness, and compassion. However, in the film itself, it was rather more of a romantic movie where Jamal comes in to the city and tries to hunt down his long-lost love, Latika, with many dramatic scenes of him trying to take her away from her rude, filthy rich mobster who controls her life. This story line is extremely predictable as is the ending as they both become reunited after he appears on the TV show and wins the top prize of twenty million Rupees. I was not taken away or surprised by this ending as it is similar to a pedestrian cliche of a romantic love story of two lost lovers who have been separated due to economic reasons and now they are reunited once again.
Understanding the motives of Danny Boyle while directing the film allows one to comprehend that the movie is intended to leave the audience with a 'feel good' feeling. Visually, seeing the emotions of the actors can be very powerful to the viewing audience. They want to identify with conquering hero and the film does just that. The problem with this is that Boyle loses the genuine aspect of allowing his audience to experience the tough life of India while the novel suggests that these fairytale stories do not happen all the time. The novel maintains the moral of the story-- that life is not perfect all the time-- and that even though the two lovers finally get reunited at the end, the novel still gives the reader the inkling that this is not common and luck was on Jamal's side in helping him to reach the happy ending.
The adaptation of this film to the novel, is somewhat close to the original intent but it glorifies and horrifies the audience at the same time. Through the visual images and the dramatic, musical score, the film completely captures the audience in a way the book cannot do. Even though the film does not allow the viewer to get inside Jamal's head as thoroughly as it does in the novel, the impact of the visual action leaves the audience breathless. A positive outcome of the film is that it allows large numbers of people to become more aware of what is happening in countries such as India. Although the book certainly gives the reader an accurate picture of Mumbai, the film shows life as it appears and through this media, the message of poverty and hopelessness turned to hope is seen to millions of people as evidenced through the awards that the film has received.
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