History YMMV / SlumdogMillionaire

** Latika was sold into sexual slavery by [[spoiler:Jamal's brother Salim]].

** After seeing [[JustForPun how much crap Jamal's gone through]], you can't help but want to give him a big hug.

* CompleteMonster: Slum boss Maman is [[FauxAffablyEvil charming, friendly and cheerful]] to orphans he meets, offering the young Jamal and Salim [[BaitTheDog ice cold coca colas]] and offering them a place to stay. It is revealed Maman [[BadSamaritan takes in orphans to use as a begging ring for him]], and the kids are just free labor. Even worse, cripples earn more money, so when children display good singing talent, Maman has them [[EyeScream blinded with acid]] to increase the revenue. When Salim and Jamal escape, Maman captures their friend Latika and several years later gives her the name 'Cherry' while intending to use her as a child prostitute. The only reason he hasn't done so already is as a virgin, she's worth a great deal of money. When he finds the young Salim and Jamal, he immediately plans to kill them, declaring "Maman never forgets."

* AmericansHateTingle: While India didn’t ''hate'' the film per se (Indian reviews were generally positive, and it grossed over 340 million rupees), there was still a large number of people who didn’t like the film. Their reasons include it needlessly glamourizing the [[StopBeingStereotypical negative]] [[MysticalIndia stereotypes]] about their country and the city of Mumbai, portraying India as more impoverished than it actually is, and the film seeming to ignore the actual conventions of Bollywood films in favor of imitating the surface-level clichés.

* ClicheStorm:
** Has a ''ton'' of Bollywood cliches in it, which was likely one of the causes of the film’s more mixed reception in India.

* AmericansHateTingle:
** While India didn’t ''hate'' the film per se (Indian reviews were generally positive, and the film grossed over 340 million rupees), there was still a large number of people who didn’t like the film. Their reasons include it needlessly glamourizing the [[StopBeingStereotypical negative]] [[MysticalIndia stereotypes]] about their country and the city of Mumbai, portraying India as more impoverished than it actually is, and the film seeming to ignore the actual conventions of Bollywood films in favor of imitating the surface-level cliches.

** India did ''not'' take kindly to this film for having needlessly glamourized [[StopBeingStereotypical negative]] [[MysticalIndia stereotypes]] about their country and the city of Mumbai and for portraying India as more impoverished than it actually is. In fact, many Indians were dismayed that ''Slumdog Millionaire'' actually won so many awards.
** And while not as much politically-charged, the movie has been also heavily accused of being a poor Western imitation of Bollywood movies, with utter disregard of their conventions and only looking on the surface-level cliches. Creator/AmitabhBachchan rallied people against the movie, feeling personally insulted by "his" presence in it.

** For Bollywood viewers. Directly caused its poor reception in India.
** Composer A.R. Rahman noted that "the story could happen anywhere: China, Brazil, anywhere." Many people agreed with the latter country, given how often it was compared to ''Film/CityOfGod'' (for what it's worth, [[https://www.firstshowing.net/2008/telluride-interview-slumdog-millionaire-director-danny-boyle/ Danny Boyle said]] he admires ''City of God'' and refused to rewatch it making ''Slumdog'' lest he got influenced).

* HypeBacklash: It won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which fueled all sorts of complaints about it. Western audiences disliked it for simplistic drama and (for them) unexpected Bollywood cliches, which seemed out of place in an award-winning film. Western Bollywood fans started to complain about a truly annoying NewbieBoom and suddenly the entire genre was viewed through poor imitation. Indian audiences hated it for the PovertyPorn angle and the Oscar only made things worse. And Bollywood actors had various, often personal reasons to trash it anyway.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Jamal is in love with Latika and literally risks his life to find her because... they were friends as kids? Granted, they went through some very rough stuff together, but it's entirely possible for two kids to go through a bad time and not fall in love. The presence of the trope is only confirmed by the movie's explanation for their ending up together: "It is written". They're together because they HAVE TO BE, OK?

* ClicheStorm: For Bollywood viewers. Directly caused its poor reception in India.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Almost to the day when the film is being released worldwide -- the platforms of the CST, where much of the film (e.g. the "Jai Ho" dance sequence) takes place, is the scene of a particularly bloody terrorist attack.
* HarsherInHindsight: LifeImitatesArt to a small extent for the slum-dwelling child stars. One of their houses (still a shack, their limited compensation being tied up in a trust fund) was bulldozed by the government, and another faced allegations that their family tried to sell them for adoption to a wealthy couple.
* HypeBacklash: It won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which fueled all sorts of complaints about it. Western audiences disliked it for simplistic drama and (for them) unexpected Bollywood cliches, which seemed out of place in award-winning film. Western Bollywood fans started to complain about a truly annoying NewbieBoom and suddenly the entire genre was viewed through poor imitation. Indian audiences hated it for the PovertyPorn angle and the Oscar only made things worse. And Bollywood actors had various, often personal reasons to trash it anyway.

** India did ''not'' take kindly to this film for having needlessly glamourized [[StopBeingStereotypical negative]] [[SimSimSalabim stereotypes]] about their country and the city of Mumbai and for portraying India as more impoverished than it actually is. In fact, many Indians were dismayed that ''Slumdog Millionaire'' actually won so many awards.

** Finally what started it all was the cold-blooded murder of their mother and other random civilians by extremists.

* WhatAnIdiot: The host could have saved his show 15 million rupees had he not [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat slipped Jamal a choice on the bathroom mirror]].

* AmericansHateTingle: India did ''not'' take kindly to this film for having needlessly glamourized [[StopBeingStereotypical negative]] [[SimSimSalabim stereotypes]] about their country and the city of Mumbai and for portraying India as more impoverished than it actually is. In fact, many Indians were dismayed that ''Slumdog Millionaire'' actually won so many awards.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The final scene. Why are they dancing?
** This doesn't come out of nowhere quite as much if you're familiar with Bollywood films, which use [[DancePartyEnding Dance Party Endings]] often. If you aren't, it will probably just invoke a FlatWhat.
** It also could be seen as a reference to the earlier scene when they are kids. Before Jamal is about to sing for Maman, he asks Latika to dance with him and performs a silly dance for her. Some of the dance moves he does are repeated during the Jai Ho dance and the kid actors reappear during the dance, highlighting how the two are finally together.

* HypeBacklash: It won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which fueled all sorts of complaints about it. Western audiences disliked it for simplistic drama and (for them) unexpectable Bollywood cliches, which seemed out of place in awarded film. Western Bollywood fans started to complain about a truly annoying NewbieBoom and suddenly the entire genre being viewed through poor imitation. Indian audiences hated it with passion for the PovertyPorn angle and Oscar only made things worse. And Bollywood actors had various, often personal reasons to trash it anyway.

* MoralEventHorizon: Maman and his gang blinding little boys to become beggars and prostituting underage girls is the most obvious one. He is like the darkest interpretation of TheFagin from ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

** For that matter Salim became his willing henchman and helped him prostitute Latika and betrayed his own brother.

** Jamal. Because after seeing [[JustForPun how much crap he's gone through]], you can't help but want to give him a big hug.
** Latika. She was sold into sexual slavery by [[spoiler:Jamal's brother Salim]].

* WhatAnIdiot: The host could have saved his show 15 million rupees had he not [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat slipped Jamal an answer on the bathroom mirror]].

* HypeBacklash: It won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which fueled all sorts of complaints about it. Western audiences disliked it for simplistic drama and (for them) unexpectable Bollywood cliches, which seemed out of place in awarded film. Western Bollywood fans started to complain about a truly annoying NewbieBoom and suddenly the entire genre being viewed through poor imitation. Indian audiences hated it with passion for the PovertyPorn angle and Oscar only made things worse. And Bollywood actors had various, often personal reason to trash it anyway.