Tasks: Slumdog Millionaire

How much do you know about India? In groups, research one of the following topics:

1. Poverty in India

2. The colonial period and the influence of British culture on present day India

3. Religions in India

4. The world’s largest democracy

5. Indian culture and food

6. Bollywood

Choose a creative way to present your findings to the rest of the class: Make a poster, a short film, a group presentation, or a podcast.

Choose three adjectives from the list below that you feel best describe your impression of the film. Explain to the rest of the group or class why you chose these words. (“I believe this is a feel-good film because ...”)

1. What happens to the slum area where Jamal and Salim grow up? What happens to their mother?

2. After the fire, Samir, Jamal and Latika work in a landfill. One day they are picked up by a man called Maman. What kind of man is Maman? How does he treat the children?

3. What happens to Salim and Jamal after they flee from Maman? What do they do to survive?

4. Jamal and Samir go back to look for Latika and find her with Maman’s men. What does Salim do to Maman?

5. After their escape, Salim, Jamal and Latika sleep in an empty hotel. What happens between the two brothers? What happens to Latika?

6. What is Jamal’s job at the call centre? How does he find his brother again?

7. Samir now works for Javed Khan. Who is this man? How would you describe him?

8. How would you describe Latika’s life with Javed Khan?

9. Jamal and Latika are reunited at the end of the film. How do they find each other?

10. What happens to Javed Khan and Samir?

1. The title Slumdog Millionaire is an oxymoron. What is an oxymoron and what does the title mean?

2. In one of the first scenes, Jamal decides to jump into a pit latrine so that he can meet his favourite actor. What does this tell us about Jamal’s determination and will-power? Are there other scenes from the film that show the same will-power?

3. Jamal’s brother Salim ends up making some bad life choices that ultimately affects his path in life. Is ethical decision making possible when one must make choices based on survival? Is Salim only bad?

4. How do you feel about the way Jamal is treated by the police and by the game show host? What does this treatment tell us about Jamal’s position in society?

5. In Norwegian fairy tales we meet a character called "Askeladden". What similarities are there between him and the main character of this novel? To what extent can we see Slumdog Millionaire as a sort of fairy tale?

6. Following its release in India, the film faced criticism from various members of the public alleging that the film fuels Western stereotypes about poverty in India and that it peddles "poverty porn". Do you agree with this criticism?

Characters

1. There are six characters in the film: Jamal, Salim, Latika, Maman, Javed, and Prem Kumar. Which of the characters would you define as rounded characters, and which would you define as flat characters? Give reasons for your answer.

2. The protagonist of the film is Jamal, while the antagonist is his brother Salim. Latika is also an important character. What role does she play?

3. Analyse the characters of Jamal and Salim using the following cues:

• social status

• outward appearance

• behaviour and way of speaking

• values and ambitions

• relationships and conflicts

Theme

Choose three different themes from the list below. In writing, explain why these themes are important for the film and how the themes are presented. Refer to specific scenes from the film to support your reflections.

Conflicts

There are different types of conflicts presented in Slumdog Millionaire:

• Relational conflicts (person against person)

• Social conflict (person against society)

• Inner conflict (person against self)

Give examples of different conflicts that are presented in the film. Briefly describe the scene. Was the conflict solved? If so, how? If not, why not?

Choose one of the tasks and write a longer text.

1. Write a character analysis where you compare and contrast the two brothers, Salim and Jamal.

2. You are going to make a sequel to Slumdog Millionaire. Write a short text where you describe the plot of this film.

3. Write a text from Jamal’s perspective:
   It has been 10 years since Jamal won millions on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”. What is his life like today? What has happened to him? Has the money brought only happiness to his life? Who is with him? Where does he live? How does he remember the time when he participated in the show?

4. Write a text from Latika’s perspective:
   Two years have passed and Latika goes back to the slum where she was born and grew up. What does she see and hear. What does she smell? Use adjectives to describe what she experiences.

5. Write an opinion column about poverty in India. Before you start writing, do some research so that you present relevant numbers and statistics.

You can actually make your own "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" gameshow in class. In groups, make questions and alternative answers, fill in the empty spaces, and find out how much your classmates know about various topics. Or let the teacher prepare one for the whole class.