Like Cinderella fitting into her glass slipper, “Slumdog Millionaire” sweeping the Oscars with eight Academy Awards is a true underdog story. Starting with only a limited release in the U.S. and initially banned in India because the film lacked a “Bollywood” sensibility, “Slumdog” looked to be like any other small-budget film …
Who doesn’t want to be millionaire?
“Slumdog Millionaire” opens with our hero, Jamal (Dev Patel), getting smoke blown into his face by a police interrogator. Then he gets his head slammed into a bucket of water, and electrical shock is applied to his feet. English director Danny Boyle always makes Jamal’s fast grin, quick mind and mischievous pranks fun to follow. However, he never reconciles this fun with the film’s often-devastating spin throughout India.