Squatter Power!

I watched the critically-acclaimed and award-winning masterpiece Slumdog Millionaire a week ago and it captivated me. The cinematography, the storyline and the child actors were perfect. I think the filmmakers gave justice to the harsh reality of living in slums without glamorizing on the triumphs that will eventually come the way of the main characters.

The movie focuses on the harrowing life of people living in extreme poverty in the streets of Mumbai, the largest city in India. Caught in the middle of the social storm is Jamal Malik and his older brother Salim. The movie starts with a torture scene involving a now-grown-up Jamal and the local police. He was eventually tied-down and was asked to explain how he was able to manage answering the grueling questions in the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The daunting story of his life in the slums, marred by tragedy, crime and sibling rivalry slowly begins to unfold as he patiently clarifies how he was able to answer each question leading to the next top question and instantly making him a millionaire.

In the poster release of the movie a tagline in a WW2BAM format says something like: What does it take to find a lost love? A. Money B. Smarts C. Luck D. Destiny. If you come to look at it Jamal, even as child, was naturally lucky. He got an autograph signed by his favorite movie actor while stinking so bad after jumping off into a shit-hole. Some of the questions during the game required deep inherent knowledge about many queer things and yet he was able to answer it purely out of luck which includes the final 20-million rupee question. His brother Salim, on the other hand, was also naturally envious of Jamal's luck. He locked the comfort room's door from the outside so that Jamal couldn't see his moviestar idol; he sold Jamal's autographed picture of that moviestar to a local collector; he let go of Latika (the girl they unoffically adopted as their sister) when they escaped from the clutches of a local syndicate and many more. His envy, however, never gets in the way of him protecting his younger brother. So you might actually say that part of Jamal's luck is his brother's protective love of him. In a way, Salim has an innate hatred of Jamal, for Jamal with luck gets most of the things they both wanted including the love of Latika. Salim eventually fell into the seduction of money and power becoming a hitman for a big mafia don while ironically maintaining his deep Islam religiousity.

Jamal's unconditional love for Latika drives him to join into the gameshow. With the hope that Latika is watching. He maybe the only person who was there in that gameshow who was not after the money. He grew up from nothing and thus, he's got nothing to lose. What he is afraid of most, is the possibility of never finding Latika again. In the final throes of the movie, Salim, the ever-protective brother, gave Latika her freedom at the expense of his own life. Bathing is a tub-full of ill-gotten money, Salim open-fired on his boss and his people which cost him his mortality. Jamal was able to answer the final question, became an underdog millionaire and fulfilled his destiny of being with Latika.

Watching the movie, you cannot help but feel secured and contented with what we have in our lives. The poor people of India are way more pitiful than the poor here in the Philippines. A slum area as far and wide as the eye can see is a screaming irony of how people are supposed to have been born equal. The movie, at the end of the day, gives hope to all of us. We choose our own destiny, as the cliche goes. Let us not forget that we all have chances to be great and significant. What matters is the choice that we make. Hopefully, my friends, we will get a shot at greatness. And when that time comes, I promise you, mine will never be less than grand. :-)