50 Fun Facts About Slumdog Millionaire
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Take the 50-question quizWho directed Slumdog Millionaire?
Loveleen Tandan is credited as co-director after writing the Hindi dialogue.
Who plays Jamal Malik, in his film debut?
He earned a BAFTA Best Actor nomination for it.
The film is loosely based on which novel?
The novel's hero is a waiter named Ram Mohammad Thomas, not Jamal.
Which game show is Jamal a contestant on?
It's the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
What is the show's grand prize?
Jamal has already won ₹1 crore when he is arrested.
Whose autograph does five-year-old Jamal get after jumping into a cesspit?
His brother Salim promptly sells it.
Which slum do the brothers come from?
Filming took place in Juhu's shantytown areas and in Mumbai's megaslum.
How is the brothers' mother killed?
The brothers escape and shelter from the rain, where they meet Latika.
Which novel gives Jamal, Salim and Latika their nicknames?
The brothers call themselves Athos and Porthos but can never remember the third name.
What does Maman do to street children so they earn more as beggars?
Witnessing it is what makes Salim flee with Jamal and Latika.
Why does Salim deliberately let go of Latika's hand at the train?
She is recaptured by Maman as a result.
At which monument do the brothers pretend to be tour guides?
They also sell goods on trains, pickpocket and wash dishes along the way.
Who shoots Maman dead?
Rival crime lord Javed is impressed enough to give him a job.
What job is Jamal doing in 2004?
That's where he learns Salim is now a lieutenant in Javed's organisation.
Where does Jamal promise to wait for Latika every day at five o'clock?
Javed's men, led by Salim, capture her when she tries to go.
Why does Jamal go on the game show at all?
It's his last attempt to reach her after losing contact.
What does host Prem Kumar do to sabotage Jamal?
Jamal answers correctly anyway, and Kumar calls the police.
Who plays the host, Prem Kumar?
It was the Bollywood star's first international film role.
Which Bollywood star, the real show's host, turned down the role of Prem Kumar?
He didn't want audiences to think the real show was a fraud.
Who plays the police inspector who eventually believes Jamal?
Boyle said he had an instinctive way of finding the moral centre of a character.
What does Salim do after giving Latika his phone and car keys?
He waits there for Javed to realise what he's done.
What is the final ₹2 crore question?
Jamal guesses Aramis and wins.
Why does Jamal use Phone-A-Friend to call Salim?
Latika answers instead and tells him she is safe.
Who plays Latika as an adult?
Her modelling agency sent her and six other models to audition.
Who wrote the screenplay?
He made three research trips to India to interview street children.
Which earlier Beaufoy film changed Boyle's mind about reading the script?
Boyle had hesitated because he had no interest in a film about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Roughly what fraction of the English dialogue was translated into Hindi?
Boyle told Warner Independent's president he wanted only 10% and she approved.
Which 1975 Bollywood film did Boyle call 'absolutely key to Indian cinema' as an influence?
It's a Salim-Javed crime film about a character based on the gangster Haji Mastan.
The film was the first to take full advantage of which digital camera?
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle shot in 2K digital video.
Who composed the score?
He planned it for two months and wrote it in two weeks.
Which song from the film won Best Original Song at the Oscars?
It plays over the end-credits dance at the railway station; O... Saya was also nominated.
Which artist shared the Oscar nomination for 'O... Saya'?
The soundtrack came out on her label, N.E.E.T.
Which girl group recorded an English version of Jai Ho?
It was subtitled 'You Are My Destiny' and fronted by Nicole Scherzinger.
What did Warner Bros. suggest doing with the film after Warner Independent shut down?
Fox Searchlight instead bought half the studio's stake and released it in the US.
How many Oscars did Slumdog Millionaire win?
From ten nominations, the most of any 2008 film.
Who hosted the 2009 Oscars where it swept?
It was his first time hosting.
Which film led that year's nominations with thirteen?
It won three, while Slumdog won eight from ten.
Slumdog was the eleventh film to win Best Picture without what?
Its two young leads both got BAFTA nods but no Oscar ones.
What was the film retitled for its Hindi-dubbed Indian release?
Indians are more familiar with crores than millions.
Which newspaper called the film 'an assault on Indian self-esteem'?
Reception among Indian audiences and the diaspora was mixed.
The film's UK earnings rose 47% in its second weekend, breaking a record held by which film?
It went on to overtake Four Weddings as the top-grossing British independent film in the UK.
Which film festival gave Slumdog its world premiere?
It then won the People's Choice Award at Toronto.
Who is credited as co-director of Slumdog Millionaire, having started as one of its Indian casting directors?
She suggested shooting part of the film in Hindi and was asked to step up as filming approached.
How much did Warner Independent Pictures pay to secure the film's rights?
Celador had sought a US distributor to share the projected $15 million cost; Warner later sold half its interest to Fox Searchlight.
Danny Boyle fibbed to the US distributor's president that what share of the dialogue would be in Hindi?
In reality nearly a third of the English dialogue was translated.
The opening police chase was modelled on a 12-minute chase through Dharavi in which 2007 Indian film?
That film was adapted from Hussein Zaidi's book about the 1993 Bombay bombings.
Its $378m worldwide gross made the film Fox Searchlight's biggest ever, surpassing which title?
It was also the most successful British independent film of all time.
Who was the film's Oscar-winning cinematographer?
He shot mainly on digital rather than traditional film stock.
At which September 2008 festival did the film win the People's Choice Award?
It was described as that festival's first widely acknowledged popular success.
After its Oscar sweep, the film's US earnings jumped 43 percent, the biggest post-Oscars rise since which film?
It reached its widest release of 2,943 theatres the following weekend.
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