Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, co-directed by Loveleen Tandan, and written by Simon Beaufoy. It is an adaptation of the Boeke Prize winning and Commonwealth Writers' Prize nominated novel Q and A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. Tandan, who began as the film's casting director, was later appointed the co-director by Boyle because of her significant contributions to the film's production.
Set and filmed in India, Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai who appears on Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) and exceeds people's expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials.
After screenings at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, Slumdog Millionaire initially had a limited North American release on 12 November 2008 to critical acclaim and awards success, and later had a nationwide release in the United States on 26 December 2008 and in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2009. It premiered in Mumbai on 22 January 2009. Though the film contains both English and Hindi dialogues, an entirely Hindi dubbed version of the film, Slumdog Crorepati, was also released in India.
Slumdog Millionaire won five of the six awards it was nominated for at the Critics' Choice Awards and all four of the awards it was nominated for at the Golden Globes. It has also been nominated for eleven BAFTA Awards and ten Academy Awards. No doubt, the movie has created quite a stir.
However, the film has not been without its set of controversies. One of the first celebrities thought to have discussed the film was "India's biggest superstar" Amitabh Bachchan, from whom young Jamal eagerly seeks an autograph in the beginning of the film and who was the original presenter for Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He has an entry on his blog...