Slumdog Millionaire

Bayo Top
Mossimo belt
Esprit Capri
Parisian Wedges

One of the glaring sights that our country is unfortunately known for is the predominance of beggars on the streets. As soon as the traffic light turns red, expect that some unbathed children or a disabled person will come knocking on your car windows. Or if you are riding a jeepney, someone will surprise you with a tap and extend his hand over, palms up.

Personally, I don’t usually give money to them (if I have a pack of biscuits in my car, then I share). It’s not that I am apathetic to their plight. It’s just that I believe that condoning this action will make them more reliant on alms forever.  Once you give, expect others to flock to you for some more loose change. I also heard of stories about children being used by adults to beg, sort of like a gang. Horror stories which our government will be forever hounded with, if they don't do some drastic actions about them.

There was a funny encounter my friend Egay and I had a long time ago with the panhandlers. We were riding in his car with the windows open along EDSA. When the traffic lights turned red, a man put his hand inside the car on the driver's side to ask for money. At that instant, Egay faced him to say, “Wala.” So like in slow motion, the man’s fingers went to his mouth instead—shoot!!! Hahaha! You don’t even want to hear what Egay said afterwards.

Movie Recall:  Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The Story:
A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

 My Review:
Although the highlight of the movie is a childhood love that seeks to be fulfilled no matter what the price is, it is undeniable that it also shows the plight of a poverty-stricken society of India as well. Everytime I watch this movie, my heart bleeds for those children here who are doomed to suffer because of fate. The exposition of the game questions seems to be too coincidental to the main character’s life, in my thought though. But still, the movie will effectively tug one’s heart, no matter how inured you are to beggars.

Trivia:

The actor whose autograph young Jamal gets is Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan is a very real, and very famous Indian actor, the original host of the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1998) (called "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" (2000)), and also the father-in-law of Aishwarya Rai (or Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan as she is known after marriage).

Director Danny Boyle placed the money to be paid to the 3 lead child actors in a trust that is to be released to them upon their completion of grade school at 16 years of age. The production company has set up for an auto-rikshaw driver to take the kids to school everyday until they are 16 years old.

The pile of excreta that the young Jamal jumps into was made from a combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

When viewers objected to the term "Slumdog" as racist-sounding, director Danny Boyle explained that it wasn't; the word is a combination of Jamal's twin standings as a "slum-dweller" and an "underdog".

www.imdb.com