Slumdog Millionaire

Film Analysis is done by

Mohammed Afzal

H2019ODC010

MA ODCL
Movie Plot:

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon

Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A

(2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of

Jamal Malik, a young man from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai who has won on the show

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Slumdog Millionaire). The determination of the movie’s

main character Jamal to find his childhood love through years of separation makes this film

the quintessential love story and a triumph of good over evil. The theme of the movie is that

even when people live in poverty and unacceptable conditions there is still a place for

courage, dreams and heroism, and it does not matter where one comes from.

A character by the name Jamal Malik is being a guest on the famous program "Who Wants to

Be a Millionaire" and to answer the questions correctly, he recalls events from his life and

this enables him to remember the information very vividly. The only possibly fictional part of

the movie is the coincidence in how the questions specifically relate to his life, even though

one might argue that coincidences are all that happens in the world. The central theme of the

movie is not the game show but the life of a child who grows up in a place filled with crime

and danger. The "slums" that are described in the movie are one of the worst places in any

society. The separation between classes existed for a long time where one part lives in luxury

and the other lives below the poverty line. Some of the causes were the many languages

spoken, geography, invasions, religious differences, practices and ethnicities. (Bhoomi K.

Thakore. (2012))
Stages of Life span:

Jamal Malik, the central character of the film is portrayed as a young child, an early teenager,

and as an 18-year-old. Urie Bronfenbrenner, Ecological Systems Theory explains how the

inherent qualities of children and their environments interact to influence how they grow and

develop. The Bronfenbrenner theory emphasizes the importance of studying children in

multiple environments, also known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their

development. (Sarah Mae Sincero (2012))

As shown in this movie how Jamal and his brother grow up in the slum area, the influence of

the environment on their growth. At the beginning of the film, Jamal is playing cricket with

Salim and other children from the Mumbai slums; they are then pursued through the slums by

guards and are rescued by their mother, who promises she will punish the boys. She takes

them to school where they learn about The Three Musketeers and hears only about Athos and

Porthos. Later their mother is brutally murdered in an anti-Muslim rampage on their Mumbai

slum, a reference to the anti-Muslim attacks of 1993. Throughout their young lives, Jamal, his

brother Salim, dealt with powerlessness against their slumlords. So, in their microsystem,

they had family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbours and other people who have direct

contact. The microsystem is the setting in which we have direct social interactions with these

social agents as explained by Bronfenbrenner, Ecological Systems Theory. (H.Fahmi. (2009))

Later the boys flee for their lives and meet Latika. Salim is against having her travel with

them but Jamal insists that she could "be the Third Musketeer".

 Struggle in the slum

  At the age five Jamal obtains the autography of the Bollywood star Amitabh

Bachan which his brother Salim sells it.

 His mother dies in Bombay riots.

 The three characters are found by Maman a gangster who tricks and trains street

children into beggars.

 Salim and Jamal make a living travelling on top of the trains.

We can incorporate behaviour learning theory because Jamal is a very tough guy and his risk-

taking behaviour. His bad and tough instances such as spend a few years on trains, selling

goods, pickpocketing and sleeping in the luggage made him a tough guy. So, any child who

faces unusual and critical situations at an early age have a greater effect on childhood

behaviour and his needs.

According to the Maslow's five stages of needs, the lower stage that should be fulfilled first is

the psychological need. In Jamal's case, his psychological need is enough. He is a healthy

person who has no problem physically or mentally. Even though he is a poor person, when he

grows up, he was never seen starving or very thirsty. He also has no difficulties in sleeping

and eating, therefore psychological need is already fulfilled.

The next need is a safety need. Jamal's safety need is fulfilled after Jamal freed himself from

Maman, however, his safeness is not fulfilled. In this case, is the safeness of Jamal and

lathika. Jamal's motivation in joining the quiz is seen through fulfilling safety needs. It is

revealed that Jamal joins the quiz in case of their safety.

The next need that emerges is love and belonging needs. Jamal’s love and belongings needs

are also fulfilled since he has finally found Latiaka. Jamal’s esteem need has also been
fulfilled. According to Maslow, self-esteem need leads people to have feelings of confidence,

worth strength, and capable of being useful and necessary in the world. In

Jamal’s case he has confidence in joining the who wants to be a millionaire quiz as the

contest and successfully wins the top prize. As a slumdog, he can prove that not every poor

person is a criminal since he is suspected as a deceiver. He can show to the world that he can

win through his own effort. After fulfilling the self-esteem need, Jamal moves to the next

stage of need which is self- actualization need. Jamal's self-fulfilment becomes actualized by

joining the quiz show and realised his desire into reality. In this case, he meets Latika in the

end.

Bandura believed that humans can learn through observation without the need for imitation;

learning could be either direct or indirect in that one could learn through observing others

behaviours and the consequences of those behaviours. The main characters in the film show

how psychological and cultural factors observations are interconnected. Jamal learns through

his horrible traumas and abuse, his losses, dreams and desires. Each and every question asked

in the quiz is related to his own life experiences which he learnt through observations and

consequences of those behaviours. (Gibson, S. K. (2004))

Socio-cultural – historical context:

After India got independence in the year 1947, India inherited an economy that was one of

the poorest in the developing world. India had one of the lowest life expectancies and low

rate for literacy. The movie talked about the social life in India.
As seen in the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" Jamal Malik has received no education. Right

away, this fact negatively predisposes the game host and this can be seen as true in any

society. Modern age requires for a person to have a proper education and when someone does

not, rarely are the reasons for the absence of education considered. Even though Jamal is not

formally educated, he shows signs of intelligence and honesty. Through his deep internal

belief, he knows that it is right to help someone who is in need and does not hesitate to offer

assistance to Latika.

The concept of multi genres can be seen in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The genres

identified are romance, drama and crime. The other elements of the movie such as the

underworld, crime and Hindu-Muslim riots in the city of Mumbai have been portrayed. In the

slum, the hardships of life start very early but there is still enough time and place for

friendship and goodwill.

Slumdog Millionaire is embedded in the uneven socio-economic conditions of contemporary

India. It reflects not only the economic identity of the human but also his ethical and

subjective positions. Rich and influential control the poor, rich order and the poor obey, rich

exude power and the poor fear. The film is an illustration of how social inequalities produce

suffering humans such as Jamal, Salim and Latika whose trauma is rooted in the structural

social condition. Latika’s victimization puts the film within the taxonomy of ‘atrocity

narrative’ which depicts how women are abused and deprived of dignity, happiness and

independence. In most of the ‘atrocity narratives’, the child – the victim is central to the

theme. This aspect is best illustrated in Slumdog Millionnaire.

Human development context:

This film is so filled with symbolism about personal growth, maturity, masculinity,

femininity, the process of therapy and psychoanalysis. In the film, "it is written" that boy

meets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl are lost, and with enough growth and wisdom, boy and

girl find each other again, for life.

Our "destinies" in love, work, and life then are entirely dependent on not only the quality of

the environment we were born into, the genetics we inherited, and the social, cultural, and

economic times we must contend with, but also the quality of our specific choices in life.

This is how our character development really is our destiny, and therefore how the process of

psychotherapy of the character really can permanently change one's destiny for the better.

The character of Jamal shows us through his story. Because, as Jamal finally learns through

his horrible traumas and abuse, his losses, dreams, desires,

An analysis of Slumdog Millionnaire reveals that it reflects both psychological traumas as

well as Cultural trauma. Though psychological trauma is individual and personal and goes for

the segregation of the two kinds, a study of the traumatic experiences of the main characters

in the film Slumdog Millionnaire shows how psychological and cultural factors are

interconnected. The lives of Jamal and Latika show continuous oppression and how it leaves

an adverse impact on their psyche.

Freud states that the ego develops as the mediator between the id and the external world or

reality. The reality in this movie script is that Jamal is a poor and uneducated person who has

nothing. The id here is Jamal's real motivation, which is the longing to finds safety. Joining

the quiz and winning the money is the mediator for his motivation.
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development explains the development of children moral

reasoning. When Jamal is furious and ends up on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? through

unknown means. He is not intending to get rich, but to get Latika's attention so she may find

him again. He tries to stay on as long as he can, answering the questions based on his past

experiences. Because he is a "Slumdog" the host of the show believes he is cheating and his

belief is strengthened when he tries to feed Jamal a wrong answer but his moral development

was such that he didn't cheat but still he gets it right

Finally, the 20 million rupee question, the one which his past does not help as he did not

show up that day of school for the Three Musketeers reading, and which he cannot even

figure out with his present-minded wits: "Who is the third Musketeer?"

He doesn't know and has not a clue. But is willing to risk everything "just because," as a

defiant statement of identity: "This is my risk, my life, and my answer..." even if he has no

certainty about the future result. There is a lesson for us all in this "just because" attitude; for

as uncertain as the future will always be, we cannot fail if we do not betray our own identity,

autonomy, freedom, and worth.

My reflections and experiences:

While I was working in Chennai, I visited the slum area near to the Chennai railway central.

Whatever portrayed in the Slumdog Millionaire movie I can easily connect with it.

I saw one instance when my friend offered the slippers to one young child he wears it but

when we visited the next day he is slipper less. When we asked the child he replied slippers

are not important to me. That incident realized me that as we all know the importance of

wearing slippers or shoes but for the slum children, it is not.

Another instance remind me when one of my friends lost his father at an early young age the

kind of difficult and grief situations he went through clearly reminds me of this movie. My

friend stopped his education and started working to feed his family and the kind of jobs he

performed to survive his family always realize me the importance of motivation, commitment

and challenging situations.

No matter how down we have been, what horrors you've seen, how many failures you've had

or risked and lost everything, how alone you have been or without love - that soul mate you

have wanted all your life - just stand-alone, play the game, make the choices, and know that

your past will rise to give you today's answers. Inch by inch, the new character growth -

mature wisdom from life's experience will see you through in the future.

References:

Gibson, S. K. (2004). Social Learning (Cognitive) Theory and Implications for Human

Resource Development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 6(2), 193–210.

H.Fahmi. (2009). A thesis: A Revelation of Danny Boyle’s Worldview on Slumdog

Millionaire, 21-25.

Sarah Mae Sincero (2012). Ecological Systems Theory.

Peter Berger. An Anthropological Reading of the Film, Slumdog Millionaire.

Bhoomi K. Thakore. (2012). Film Review: Rags-to-Riches in the 21st Century: The Reality

behind Representations in Slumdog Millionaire.

Paul B. Baltes.Theoretical Propositions of Life-Span Developmental Psychology: On the

Dynamics between Growth and Decline.