Dreams from the Ditches
by Don Jaucian

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
D: Danny Boyle
S: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto

Slumdog Millionaire has ‘Oscar Winner’ written all over it. It’s the typical fare that Oscar voters usually like: small fish versus the big world, only now it’s set in a third world country. It’s like Maalaala Mo Kaya on steroids and directed by a well known director. It’s a fast-paced tour of the streets of Mumbai, crowded and boisterous (sounds familiar?). If you’re the typical Filipino kid who grew up watching soap operas, Slumdog’s trappings won’t be anything new but this time, you can actually care about the characters.

With Boyle’s strong visual dynamics, Slumdog depicts a kinetic portrait of modern-day Mumbai, just another city populated with dreams and wishes pinned in one man’s struggle to escape the fallout and get out of the barriers and shackles he was born with.