You have to hand it to them really, don't you? How you take a quiz show like "Who wants to be a millionaire" and make it into a successful drama is quite remarkable.

We meet Jamal shortly before the end of his appearance on India's version of the show, where he is just one question away from the final. After the show he is arrested and tortured - they simply don't believe that a kid from the slums could possibly know all these answers.

So, during the interrogation he proceeds to explain how he knew the answers and in the process tells us the story of his life and what a heart-breaking tale of love, deception, abuse and persecution it is.

The key story is that of Jamal's love of Latika, a girl he'd fallen for when he was just a young child. Her story is not much better than the story of Jamal and his elder brother.

There are some truly heart-wrenching moments, some scenes that make you want to scream out "life shouldn't be like that, that just isn't fair" and rightly so. A film like this one really makes you take notice of things, as well as being a well made movie.

Though I might not agree with it being awarded 8 Oscars, I can certainly see why people liked it.

see also:
21, Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, The Wrestler

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