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Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)

Release Date: 9 January 2009

Tagline: Love and money… You have mixed them both.

Main Cast:

Dev Patel … Jamal K. Malik

Saurabh Shukla … Sergeant Srinivas

Anil Kapoor  …  Prem

Freida Pinto … Latika

I’d like to start by mentioning the cast. The above list is really not fair – the children who play the main characters through much of the film are superb and really make the film.

Slumdog Millionaire has been referred to as ‘The feel-good film of the year’. In many ways this is just not true. Yes, the ending is uplifting and leaves you very happy, but the scenes of abject poverty and cruelty are anything but. Yes, Jamal lifts himself out of his awful childhood but most don’t,  and it’s very hard to watch knowing that countless children (and adults) live in such conditions. I spent much of the film feeling extreme sadness.

An absolutely unmissable film.

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