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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Slumdog_Millionaire_poster.jpg]]
2->'''Police Inspector:''' Doctors... Lawyers... never get past 60 thousand rupees. He's won 10 million. What can a slumdog possibly know?\
3'''Jamal Malik:''' ''[quietly]'' The answers.
4
5''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film directed by Creator/DannyBoyle, based on the novel ''Literature/QAndA'' by Vikas Swarup. It stars Creator/DevPatel (in his film debut), with Creator/FreidaPinto (also in her film debut), Creator/AnilKapoor and Creator/IrrfanKhan among the supporting roles.
6
7Jamal Malik (Patel) is on the verge of winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''. There's just one problem: he's a "slumdog," working at a minimum wage job, and nobody can see how he knew ''any'' of the answers. As they go through each question, he shows how events in his childhood and life contributed to his knowing almost every single one.
8
9Please note that, apart from the dance number at the end, this is not a UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film, but rather a Western movie made in Mumbai. It does, however, have several references to Indian culture and Bollywood movies --including songs that have been used in other movies, a credits sequence made to look like old-fashioned movie posters and a reference to legendary Indian film actor Creator/AmitabhBachchan, though it only uses a total of two well-known Bollywood actors in the film, one of them being Creator/IrrfanKhan.
10----
11!!This film provides examples of:
12
13* ActorAllusion: Prem says that he is a former winner. His actor Anil Kapoor was a guest on the real show in 2001 and won 5 million Rupees. (He appeared again in 2013, this time winning 640,000 Rupees.)
14* AdaptationDistillation: Though there are a lot of things different from the book (including the main character's name - in the book it's Ram Mohammad Thomas), the film manages to condense most of it down and still be good.
15** It also drifts into PragmaticAdaptation zone.
16** The book could not use the actual ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'', but the film version could, due to it being made by the original producers of the series. (However, they had sold the rights to the franchise by the time the film was released.)
17* AdaptationTitleChange: The movie is based on the novel ''Literature/QAndA''. Like with many other things changed for the film, the title is completely different since the producers got the rights to use the Indian version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''.
18* AloofBigBrother: Salim.
19* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Jamal meets Latika, she asks why he came back, and he responds that he wanted to see Latika.
20-->'''Latika:''' You've seen me. [[AndThenWhat Now what?]]
21* AudienceMurmurs: The studio audience responds with murmur to all of Jamal's decisions.
22* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzTUQto3_0c "Dreams on Fire"]] is a by-the-book song of this kind... but the one that actually won awards, "Jai-Ho", might count.
23* BaitTheDog: The men who "recruit" the beggar children at first seem like nice guys (albeit certainly criminals); they're actually despicable villains.
24** The ''Millionaire'' host was jealous because like Jamal he was a slumdog who came to some success. And he would rather have the show [[ItsAllAboutMe be about him]].
25* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:The quiz host attempts to pull one of these on Jamal and it backfires spectacularly. Which actually turns it into an accidental SecretTestOfCharacter.]]
26* BecauseDestinySaysSo: [[spoiler:''D. [[MemeticMutation It is written ]].]]''
27* BigBadEnsemble: There are plenty of different horrible people who stand in Jamal's way but Maman and later Javed Khan are the ones who qualify for this being crime bosses. [[spoiler: In the third act, even [[TheHeavy Salim]] qualifies, as he has become a gangster and a more personal antagonist towards his own brother and Latika.]]
28* BigBrotherInstinct: Salim. He did bully Jamal and even threatened him with a gun at one point, but [[spoiler: he has killed no less than ''two'' crimelords to help his brother. [[RedemptionEqualsDeath He died in the second attempt]].]]
29* BigDamnKiss: The last scene before the credits.
30* BilingualBonus: There are a lot of curse words in the beginning the subtitles decided to leave out.
31** The Hindi song ''Ringa Ringa'', which plays when Jamal and Salim find Latika in their teens is about a woman who was forced into sex by a sleezy guy, fitting as Latika was about to become a prostitute and have her virginity sold off.
32* BittersweetEnding: Jamal has won twenty million rupees and is finally reunited with Latika for good but both of them had to endure ''a lot'' of suffering to get there and Salim had to [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sacrifice his life]] to save them from Javed and his goons.
33* BookDumb: Jamal and Salim, literally due to poor schooling. They know the names of two out of Literature/{{the Three Musketeers}}, and can pick up enough history of the Taj Mahal to sound convincing, and run a small racket at age 13 or so; see Informed Flaw.
34* BoomerangBigot: Perm actively looks down upon Jamal for coming from the slums despite the fact that [[spoiler: he grew up there too.]]
35* CainAndAbel: Jamal and Salim eventually.
36* ChekhovsArmory: Every single event in Jamal's life. Every single one.
37* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Jamal and Latika.
38* ChurchGoingVillain: Despite his line of work and jerkass tendencies Salim is shown to be a pious Muslim as he is seen performing a Muslim prayer to atone for his sins and his last words are "God is great".
39* CondensationClue: The show host writes the letter B on the steamy bathroom mirror for Jamal to notice. It was supposed to be the answer for the next show question but as it turns out - the clue was wrong. Good thing Jamal didn't fall for it.
40* ConMan: Part of Jamal's youth is spent pretending to be a tour guide and making up the history as he goes along.
41* DancePartyEnding: A Bollywood dance sequence during the end credits. Even the kid versions of the leads join in.
42* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster
43* {{Determinator}}: Jamal, who goes through all sorts of suffering and works with a monomaniacal determination to find Latika. He only goes on a nationally-telecast game show so she'll see his face.
44-->'''Salim''': That guy will never give up. Never.
45* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: During a commercial break, the host follows Jamal to the bathroom where he writes a letter on a foggy mirror. Jamal gets around it by using his 50:50 lifeline and choosing the other answer.
46* DirtyCoward: Maman immediately resorts to getting on his knees, begging, and opening his wallet when Salim gets the drop on him. Salim just shoots him.
47* TheDulcineaEffect: Given the amount of time the film covers vs. the amount of time Jamal and Latika are together, plus the lengths Jamal is willing to go to find her, this trope fits. It's not entirely clear how long the kids spent together the first time, but it seems to have been a while. Given how things were left off (with her in the hands of the vicious slavers), it's perhaps not surprising that Jamal would be obsessed with rescuing her. Now, Jamal and Latika's ''romantic'' devotion developing over the course of a few hours in their second time together is a better fit.
48%%* EarnYourHappyEnding
49* EntertaininglyWrong: When Salim and Jamal are living near the Taj Mahal, the latter is at one point mistaken for a tour guide by a couple of German tourists. Jamal decides to roll with it when he learns that there are pretty good money in it. While Jamal has overheard bit and pieces of the historical factoids the professional tour guides tell about Taj Mahal on a regular basis, he cannot remember all of it, so he just fills out the missing pieces with ideas and concepts that are familiar to him, resulting in him grandstandingly telling the tourists that the Taj Mahal is in fact a five star hotel complete with elevators and a swimming pool and that Empress Mumtaz Mahal died in a road traffic accident. When the tourists points that there are several discrepancies between Jamal's story and their guidebook, Jamal quickly waves it off by claiming that their book was written by "a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing, Indian beggars."
50* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When we first meet Jamal, he's trying to catch a ball playing cricket. Salim is yelling at him to catch it, then Jamal fails from no fault of his own. Salim yells at him. They high five a few seconds later.
51** A later one is in the first question flashback. Jamal [[{{Determinator}} walks through poop]] after Salim locks him in an outhouse to get an autograph. Then Salim sells that autograph without telling Jamal, which they get into a fight over
52* EyeScream: The beggars get their eyes [[spoiler:burned out]] to make more money.
53* TheFaceless: In the scene where a young Jamal is meeting his idol Creator/AmitabhBachchan, the actor playing Bachchan is shot so his face is never clearly visible.
54* TheFagin: Maman [[BaitTheDog initially seems to be the nice version]] who takes in children to sing for money on the streets. [[spoiler: But blinds them to make them look more sympathetic.]]
55* FanDisservice: Jamal gets a ShirtlessScene...Hanging by his wrists and being tortured for cheating (when he's not).
56* FauxAffablyEvil: Maman lures children to his beggar rings by acting friendly towards them, like in Jamal and Salim's case he gives them Coca Colas when finding them on a landfill.
57* FeigningIntelligence: The two brothers feign expertise on all sorts of stuff to get by (and learn what they didn't know in the process). Thing is, both are actually pretty smart, [[BookDumb if unlettered]].
58* FramingDevice: The first 3/4 of the movie is presented with a framing device of Jamal being tortured and then interrogated, with Jamal eventually telling his life story to the police inspector.
59* GoodScarsEvilScars: Despite [[spoiler:being attacked by a group of gangsters who obviously intend to disfigure her]], Latika receives a single elegant slash across her face which heals cleanly, and actually ''accentuates her cheekbones''. Logically, of course, no one would want an ugly prostitute. Concept art even shows the artist clearly trying to find the prettiest version of the scar.
60* GroinAttack: Downplayed and Played For Laughs. While they were living at the orphanage Jamal and Latika pull a prank on Salim by putting chili peppers on his genitals while he's asleep.
61* HeadbuttOfLove: Salim and Latika do this when they meet again as adults, after he finally tracks her down to a gangster's palace.
62* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Salim.
63* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Latika.
64* ImagineSpot: When Jamal meets his brother again after a few years, he imagines [[spoiler:rushing him off the roof and killing them both.]]
65* InformedFlaw: Jamal and to a lesser extent Salim have a lack of education and knowledge. Other characters, however, completely dismiss their clear street smarts, and Jamal's knowledge as a slumdog is lampshaded so many times, despite all evidence to the contrary, that it goes beyond BookDumb into this.
66%%* InMysteriousWays
67* InstantSedation: Before [[spoiler:having his eyes burned out]], one of Maman's beggars is knocked out with chloroform. One second, he's screaming and struggling, and the next, he's out like a light.
68* InterrogationFlashback: Basically, after torturing him didn't work, the police decided to let the hero tell his story to explain how he knew the answers on the Millionaire show.
69* IRememberBecause: Essentially the entire plot of the movie.
70* IronicEcho: When Maman is first torturing the children he says "Maman never forgets". Later, when he's grovelling for his life, Salim throws this back at him. Maman says that he can make an exception but Salim ignores him and blows his head off.
71* IronicJuxtaposition: In the climax, [[spoiler:Salim]] dies due to RedemptionEqualsDeath in a bathtub full of money, while at the same time Jamal wins 20 million rupees. Metaphorically speaking, we even have a BirthDeathJuxtaposition at hand, since Jamal can be considered a new person at this point.
72* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: When the police think Jamal cheated, they use ElectricTorture on him to make him confess. Particularly disturbing is that they're so casual about it, you get the impression they do this all the time.[[note]]Being Mumbai Police, they DO do this all the time. But sorta, kinda, understandable as they get paid peanuts to put their lives on the line against ruthless gangsters who usually have political connections.[[/note]]
73* JeopardyIntelligenceTest: The ''Millionaire'' game show, which shows that Jamal has a very, very good memory to know the answer to every question.
74* {{Jerkass}}: Salim was a total dick to Jamal when they were younger, like locking him in an outhouse to prevent him from seeing his favorite actor, and stealing Jamal's autograph of said actor and selling it. And that whole business of [[spoiler:dooming Latika to prostitution.]]
75** The ''Millionaire'' host has signs of this. He happily mocks Jamal for being an assistant at a call center and calls him a "chaiwalah" (approximately it means tea maker but is used as a derogatory term here), all in the name of entertainment. He later starts to approach monster territory after he [[spoiler:intentionally gives Jamal a wrong answer to try and slip him up]], and then [[spoiler: falsely accuses him of cheating and has him sent to be tortured]], just because he wanted to be [[EvilIsPetty the center of attention]].
76* KickTheDog: Salim. Repeatedly.
77* KickTheSonOfABitch: Salim's StartOfDarkness is killing [[spoiler:Maman, the evil child slaver.]]
78* LastStand: [[spoiler:Salim in a bathtub filled with money.]] Two reasons; [[spoiler:it gives him a chance to get the drop on whoever was coming in first (likely his boss) as they take a few seconds to try and figure out what's going on, and if he has to go out, he'd prefer to go out in a manner people are going to talk about for ''years''.]]
79* LipLockSunBlock: The final kiss.
80* MistakenForSpecialGuest: Jamal uses this to his advantage on several occasions.
81* MoodDissonance: The feelings of joy and disgust at the same time when Jamal answers the second to last question (answer D) correctly and the show host is dancing around him while we know he actually tried to set Jamal up for failure.
82* MultilingualSong: The ending song "Jai Ho" is sung in Hindi, but features a verse in Spanish.
83* NecessaryFail: Good thing your life sucked so much, Jamal.
84* NatureAdoresAVirgin: In a very disturbing, sex slavery kind of way. Jamal and Salim finally find Latika again only to be immediately confronted by Maman, who asks them "Do you have any idea how much this little virgin is worth?"
85* NeutralFemale: Latika, especially when their kids and Jamal and Salim are fighting.
86* NeverTrustATrailer: It takes long for Jamal's suffering to be overcome by the happiness promised by the previews and blurbs...
87* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Creator/DevPatel as Jamal tries an Indian accent (Dev Patel is ethnically Indian but English) but often his English accent comes through.
88* OneSteveLimit: Averted. Jamal searches the name "Latika" in the phone listings and gets over 26 000 results. Even when he searches "Salim K Malik" he gets fifteen results.
89* OperatorFromIndia: Jamal works at one of these places. The English cultural teaching is portrayed with some accuracy.
90* OrderedToCheat: [[spoiler:The host of the show attempts to gets Jamal out of the game by deliberately giving him the wrong answer on a mirror during his bathroom break. Suspicious of his motives and with only two possible answers left, Jamal chooses the other answer instead of the one given to him.]]
91* OrphanageOfFear: Oh yes.
92* PaintingTheMedium: The portrayals of the main characters get more and more realistic as Jamal gets older. This is because as he matures, he better understands what is going on instead of turning it into caricature.
93* PlotTailoredToTheParty: The questions with Jamal's flashbacks. See Someday This May Come In Handy.
94* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain:
95** The Hindu fanatics who kill Jamal and Salim's mother (alongside countless other innocent people in the slums) for being Muslim.
96** Javed is both verbally and physically abusive towards Latika while treating her like his property and has no qualms about sending his goons after her when she attempts to run away from him. In one scene he also [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking angrily demands her to make him a sandwich]].
97* PornStache: Prem Kumar. It helps that [[Creator/AnilKapoor the actor portraying him]] is famous for it within Bollywood.
98* PovertyPorn: From the left to the right and from the bottom to the top, the film has been accused of indulging in the worst kind of stereotypes, cliches and plot devices that come from this trope.
99* RaceForYourLove: Latika's [[spoiler:desperate dash to get to the phone in time, in a variation on the usual trope.]]
100* RadioContest: How Jamal gets on the show.
101* RagsToRiches: Subverted since [[spoiler: Jamal doesn't really care about winning the money, he just goes on the show in order to find Latika.]]
102* RecapByAudit: The accounting is not of expenses, but of the main character's life experiences that led to his presence on a quiz show, and his knowledge of esoteric answers despite a dirt-poor childhood.
103* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Salim, Jamal's brother, ''invokes'' this to make up for all the crap he put him through.]] In a [[spoiler: bathtub full of money]] no less.
104* RedLightDistrict: Jamal and Salim as teenagers visit one to find Latika.
105* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Opens with a DownerBeginning, has many dark moments (specially in flashbacks), but it all leads to a happy ending.
106* RevolversAreForAmateurs: Salim starts his life of crime with a revolver.
107* RuleOfRomantic: Why the movie's portrayal of ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' bears little to no resemblance to how the show actually works.
108* SayMyName: '''[[MemeticMutation LATIKA!]]'''
109* SeriousBusiness: Jamal is tortured by the police, going right up to ElectricTorture with batteries hooked up to his feet. Why? Because they think he might have cheated on ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''.
110* SheIsAllGrownUp: Both Jamal and Salim have this reaction when they see Latika again as teens.
111* ShownTheirWork: The movie star in the beginning who Jamal gets an autograph from is played by a double of the actual actor. Both the real actor and double sign with their left hand. The director mentions it in the commentary.
112* SiblingTriangle: Subverted in that it's made clear that Salim's feelings for Latika are merely lust and is just one of many obstacles for Jamal and Latika's love.
113* SiblingYinYang: Sweet, kind, romantic Jamal and tough, controlling, {{Jerkass}} Salim.
114* SingleTargetSexuality: Jamal doesn't seem to realize other females even ''exist.''
115* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Salim, despite having more screen time than Latika. When Madhur Mittal, who plays the adult Salim, was asked about this he said the studio wanted to promote the film as a love story.
116* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: The slums are gritty, the quiz show is shiny.
117* SmarmyHost: The jerkass Millionaire host who tries to make Jamal lose.
118* SmugSnake: The quiz show host.
119* SomedayThisWillComeInHandy: Every. Single. Experience that Jamal has helps him answer the questions on the quiz show.
120* StaggeredZoom: A staggered zoom up into the sky, showing the rooftops of the shantytown where young Jamal lives, shows how big the shantytown is.
121* StarCrossedLovers: Jamal and Latika.
122* StorefrontTelevisionDisplay: There are a few scenes where people too poor to afford a TV watch the show in front of an electronics store.
123* StreetUrchin: During their late childhood to adolescence, Jamal and Salim are like this, conning tourists among other things.
124* SuddenMusicalEnding
125* ThisIsReality: Jamal is pretending to be a tour guide, taking an American couple down to the river. While they are gone, thieves strip their rented car, leaving it sitting on bricks. When the foursome gets back to the car, the Indian car driver blames Jamal, knocks him to the ground, and starts kicking him in the face. After the American man drags the driver off of Jamal, Jamal says "You wanted to see the real India? Well here it is!" The American woman says "Well this is the real America, son," and gives Jamal a bunch of cash from her wallet.
126* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler: Salim]] keeps taking levels in badass throughout the entire movie.
127* TranslationConvention: Even the ''kids at the slum'' speak English to each other.
128* TrophyWife: Latika becomes this to Javed.
129* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Jamal, Salim, and Latika.
130* AVillainNamedKhan: Javad Khan is one of the leaders of a criminal gang that recruits orphans.
131* VideoCredits: All main actors are shown and named in the end credits.
132* VirginTension: When Jamal first tries to rescue Latika.
133* WealthyEverAfter: [[spoiler:Jamal himself at the end.]]
134* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: Salim expects gratitude from Latika for helping his brother save her from prostitution, even though he was responsible for her position in the first place.
135* WarmPlaceWarmLighting: Many of the scenes set in the Mumbai slums are a turmeric-esque shade of yellow. It's a ColorMotif for Jamal's past (see Latika's yellow scarf), contrasting with the signature cool blue of the ''Millionaire'' interiors.
136* WhenSheSmiles: It's one of the earliest, most memorable shots in the film, and it's not given context until about two-thirds through.
137* WouldHurtAChild: Maman [[spoiler:blinds the kidnapped children with acid.]]
138* AWorldHalfFull: India is presented in such a fashion in this movie, quite unflinchingly. Although there are hints it is getting better.
139** "That...Used to be our slum. We used to live right there, man. Now, it's all business. India is at the center of the world now, bhai."

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