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On the run up to its release, during, and even after, Slumdog Millionaire was making headlines. Interestingly, not all of the stories were positive; some were controversial. Yet it still got people talking to the point where those who hadn’t seen the film simply had to go and see it, just so they could be included in the conversation. One of the most notable situations involved India’s megastar Amitabh Bachchan. In January 2009, a few weeks before the film was released in India, he decided to highlight two comments about it that were mentioned on his blog. One mentioned how “Slumdog Millionaire projects India as Third World dirty under belly developing nation.” Unfortunately, the media took this out of context and assumed that he was the one saying this, even though he had not actually seen the film at that point. A few weeks later, Bachchan viewed the film when it opened and described it as “Wonderful.”

There were also stories about the child stars featured in the film, how much they were paid and their living conditions. Along with this was the “poverty porn” aspect. In January 2009, following the film’s release in India, the LA Times published an article titled “Indians Don’t Feel Good About Slumdog Millionaire.” The article quoted film professor Shyamal Sengupta, who called the film “a white man’s imagined India.” Responding to the whole “poverty porn” criticism, Boyle declared that he wanted audiences to take from the film the “breathtaking resilience of people and the joy of people despite their circumstances - that lust for life. What we tried to do in the film was include as much of the city [of Mumbai] as possible.”

Using the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the backdrop for the film was a major factor. By the time Slumdog Millionaire was released, the show had been licensed to over 100 countries. Millions around the world had seen and enjoyed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, its simple format being a single contestant answering questions to win a cash prize. While Slumdog Millionaire is not necessarily about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, using a real game show that has been widely viewed around the world certainly made the film more accessible.

Vikas Swarup, the author of the novel Q&A, upon which the film is based, revealed in an interview with The Guardian that changes were made, but they appeared to make for a better film. “Danny thought the hero should be arrested on suspicion of cheating on the penultimate question, not after he wins as I had it,” said Swarup. “That was a successful idea.” As well as dropping a few sub-plots, the film turned the two friends into brothers, and a name change saw Ram Mohammad Thomas became Jamal Malik. “It’s more dramatically focused as a result, perhaps more politically correct,” said Swarup on changing his main character’s unusual name, which combined three religions. “I was forewarned of the changes by Simon Beaufoy, the screenwriter.” Overall, Swarup had praise for the end result. “The film is beautiful. The plot is riveting. The child actors are breathtaking.”

A British film that’s set in India, which ultimately received a significant push from an American distributor and countless awards; with Who Want to Be a Millionaire? at the centre of it, Slumdog Millionaire had immense global appeal. It was also an underdog story in both senses, given what’s played out on screen and how it became one of those rare instances of a film climbing up the charts. In the process it achieved praise, accolades, controversy and immense box office returns, offering plenty to talk about. One of the defining factors at work was the strong word-of-mouth, with the film’s considerable quality eventually highlighted by its four Golden Globe Awards, seven BAFTA’s and eight Oscars. And it is a feel good story, an unusual one, given that it involves torture, shootings, riots and fights. When interviewed by Empire magazine, Boyle said, “I think one of the reasons the film seems to work for people is that it is very extreme…You’ve got to portray it as an extreme experience.” Because anyone that jumps through shit, becomes an orphan and escapes from gangsters deserves to be rewarded… and audiences like a happy ending.

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