The plot of the movie is an adaptation to the story “Q & A” written by Vikas Swarup.
The story is set in India, in 2006. Jamal, the main character is eighteen years of age and on the Indian Show of Who Wants To Be A Millioanire. He decided to join the show in order to catch the attention of his former friend, latika who is being held captive by the ruler of a gang in India.
The main character, Jamal Malik, is the contestant on the Indian version of the show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The movie starts up showing him receiving the final question. The autorities find it hard to believe how a boy from the slums would be able to answer all the questions, as he never had a proper education and therefore they suspect him of cheating.
The police interrogate him, and after they have tortured him he recollects all of his life experiences, which helped him answer the questions, and expresses them to the police in order of the questions asked. Most of his life experiences include himself, Salim and Latika. His experiences show him in various stages in his life. The questions asked are not in a relative order as to how Jamal experienced them and therefore the story switches between all the various phases of his life.
Jamal’s first flashback is of an autogrpah which he received from a Bollywood movie star, and which his brother sold immediately afterward. We are then taken to the scene where Jamal and Salim witness the death of their mother and whilst running from the Bombay Riots, they meet Latika, another child from the slums. Although Salim is reluctant to take her in, Jamal does so and names the trio the Three Musketeers.
The trio are then tricked by a ganster who trains street children to be beggars for his empire. When Salim and Jamal learn that they are blinding the street children they flee and get onto a moving train. Whilst climbing onboard, Salim lets go of Latika’s hand and allows her to be recaptured by the gangsters.
Jamal and Salim, desperately looking for ways to make money and survive, resort to pick pocketing, selling goods, washing dishes and pretending to be tour guides at the Taj Mahal, whilst stealing the tourists shoes.
The boys return to Mumbai where they search for Latika, they learn that she has been made to be a prostitute and that her virginity is being set at a very high price. The brothers then rescue her, and Salim kills the gangster by drawing a gun upon him. Salim then manages to get a job with the gangsters rival, Javed. Jamal is then threatened to leave Salim and Latika alone by Salim with his gun.
Salim and Jamal years later are reunitied where Salim pleads for Jamal to forgive him. Salim has climbed the ranks in Javed’s organisation. Jamal then discovers where Latika is being held and to get his way into the residence to see her, he bluffs and tells a lie.
Once inside the residence Jamal and Latika converse where he professes his love for her, while she tells him to forget about him. Jamal makes a promise to wait for her everyday at 17:00 at the VT Station. Latika attempts to meet Jamal but is recaptured by Javed’s men, with Salim being the head of the group that recapture her. Jamal then loses contact with Latika, and in a final effort to communicate with her again he becomes a contestant on the show Who Wants to Be a Millioanire? As he is aware that she watches the show regularily.
He answers correctly until he reaches the penultimate question, which he doesn’t know, and is fed the incorrect answer by the shows host. When Jamal chooses another answer which is correct, he places suspicion upon himself and is suspected of cheating and getting this far in the game. The police interrogates him and say his story is “Bizzarely plausible” and allow him to return to the show to answer the final question.
Latika watches the continued show from the safe house, Salim attempting to be forgiven gives Latika his phone and his car keys, which enable her to escape the safe house. Salim then fills a bath tub with money and sits in it and waits for his death which is surely to come.
Jamal’s final question is of the name of the third musketeer which the boys never got to learn. Jamal uses his last life line avaliable to him and calls a friend, Salim’s number is the only one that he knows. Just before the line cuts off Latika picks up the phone. She tells him that she doesn’t know the answer but she is safe. Jamal then proceeds to choose a random answer, and it ends up being the correct answer. Jamal ends up winning the 20 million ruppees.
As Jamal wins Javed discovers that Latika has escaped at the hand of Salim who he finds in the bathroom. Salim shoots Javed before he can do anything else and Javeds men then in turn shoot Salim who is in the bathtub filled with money. Salim’s dying words that he uttered were “God is great”.
Jamal and Latika meet up later that night and share a kiss. The end of the movie consists of the credits along with a dance on the railway platform to the song “Jai Ho”.
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