Who Wants to be a "Slumdog Millionaire"? Quiz

Answer: "Q and A" by Vikas Swarup

"Q and A" was the first novel written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat who has served in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. The book has now been renamed "Slumdog Millionaire" to cash in on the movie's popularity. The movie rights to Swarup's second novel "Six Suspects" have been acquired by the BBC.

Simon Beaufoy, the screenwriter for "Slumdog Millionaire", has made several changes to the original story to adapt it for a movie audience. Most of the questions in the game show, for instance, differ from those in the book.

One of the biggest changes however is the identity of the protagonist. Vikas Swarup had named the character Ram Mohammad Thomas in a conscious attempt to maintain a secular tone. In the movie, the lead actor is named Jamal Malik and his Muslim identity is brought to the fore in a sequence depicting the communal Hindu - Muslim riots of 1992 in Mumbai.

Answer: A call centre

Jamal knew the answers to one of the questions on the show because of his job at the call centre. Since the call centre employees had to pretend they were British to the callers, they were taught a little bit about UK to help them. One of the classes also included learning about UK celebrity gossip. Jamal picked up some of this while working there.

Though the word 'slumdog' has been used in the movie to describe people like Jamal, who live in the slums of Mumbai, I have never heard it or any vernacular variation of it used in Mumbai. Beaufoy coined it by combining the words 'slum dweller' and 'underdog'.

Answer: "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas

Jamal and Salim were late for school and thus only learnt the names of two of the musketeers, Athos and Porthos. They used these names as codes for each other. Soon after this, their mother was killed by a mob during the riots, forcing the two kids to start looking after themselves working as scavengers.

The uniforms worn by the school kids indicate that they were studying in a Government (municipality) school. The medium of instruction in these schools is generally Hindi or any other regional language. For an Indian audience, it's strange to see "The Three Musketeers" taught to such young students in a Government school.

Answer: Work as beggars

Salim was put in charge of the beggar children while Jamal was trained in singing. The men planned to blind Jamal once he had learned to sing well, as that would make him earn more alms. Salim realized this and managed to escape with Jamal. He purposely left Latika behind as he hadn't approved of her being with them from the beginning.

All the sequences involving the earliest part of Jamal's life were shot in Hindi at the suggestion of Loveleen Tandon, the casting and co-director of the film. This stemmed from her inability to find young actors who could realistically portray slum children and speak fluent English. The three children cast as the young Jamal, Salim and Latika are all from the slums of Mumbai and continue to live there even now. The producers of the film have financed their education post the filming.

Answer: Taj Mahal, Agra

Even though at first they had no idea what the Taj Mahal was, Jamal and Salim were quick learners and soon became tourist guides. They even stole the footwear left outside before entering the mausoleum and took photographs as alternate means of earning money.

This is another hard to believe sequence in the movie. The Taj Mahal is an extremely popular and well known monument in India. Also, replicas of the Taj are commonly sold by hawkers on long distance trains passing through Agra. Since this was Jamal and Salim's line of work, prior to getting thrown off the train, it is surprising that they didn't identify it.

Answer: An open air laundry

The laundry, known as a dhobi ghat, was a place on the banks of the river where a number of washermen got together to wash and dry clothes. Unfortunately for Jamal, some children stole every part of the tourists' Mercedes that could be stolen, including the wheels, while they were away.

Mumbai has its own dhobi ghat at Mahalaxmi and tourists are often seen taking pictures and videos of it from the bridge overlooking it.

Answer: Cherry

Latika had grown into a beautiful young girl. She was also given dancing lessons by Maman. He had hoped to sell her to the highest bidder at the right time. She had been renamed Cherry for her life as a prostitute. Salim shot Maman and rescued Latika from the brothel.

However, he then wanted Latika for himself even though he knew how much Jamal cared about her. This led to the brothers separating, though later Salim claimed to have left messages for Jamal.

Answer: No

Jamal ran into Prem in the restroom during the commercial break. He confessed to Prem that he didn't know the answer. Prem urged him to give it a shot since he had been doing so well. When Prem left the place, Jamal realized that he had inscribed 'B' on the mirror. When Jamal returned to the hot seat, Prem again prompted him. Jamal instead chose to use the 50-50 lifeline. Of the remaining options, Jamal chose option D instead of B which turned out to be the correct answer. Prem had tried to make Jamal lose and when he didn't take the bait, he had him arrested on charges of cheating.

The Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" was called "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" and started with a prize money of Rs. 1 crore. In the subsequent seasons, it was increased to Rs. 2 crores. (1 crore = 10 million)

Answer: The railway station

Jamal had promised Latika that he would wait for her at VT station everyday at 5 pm. She had tried to meet him there earlier but was caught by Salim and his gang and taken away.

Victoria Terminus or VT station was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in 1996. However, Dev Patel, who played the older Jamal, was unable to pronounce the name and hence the old name is used in the movie. Most people in Mumbai still refer to the station as VT though CST is also catching on now.

Answer: A. R. Rahman

Rahman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for this film becoming the first Indian to win a Golden Globe. He also earned three Oscar nominations including one for Best Original Score. Rahman is a well known Indian composer and has a huge and impressive body of work. Most fans will agree that this is not his best work but the awards and recognition are rightly due to him.

"Slumdog Millionaire" has evoked a mixed response in India with equal number of people for and against it. Most of the Indian celebrities who have spoken out against it state that it reinforces the West's stereotypical view of India as a third world country. Personally, I enjoyed the movie, though I'm not convinced that all the hype surrounding it was justified. While the poverty shown in the movie is real, there's a lot more to Mumbai than just that. Maybe you should come visit and see for yourself.