Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Winner of the Audience Award at Toronto IFF, this is the story of how an impoverished Indian teenager became a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?". Danny Boyle’s film is a breathless, exciting story, both heartbreaking and exhilarating, about a Mumbai orphan who rises from rags to riches on the strength of his lively intelligence. Boyle bridges the two Indias (wealthy, aspiring middle-class and extreme poverty, both brilliantly portrayed by the director) using the device of the TV programme, telling the story of Jamal’s wretched upbringing and the intuition with which he improvises his way up through the world. We’re treated to a script by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty), the involvement of A.R. Rahman, the king of Bollywood music, and a touching love story to boot...