Summary
As Jamal thinks about Latika, first left behind running after the train, then as an adult, we are transported back to the present. The host of the game show asks a question about which American statesman is on the one hundred dollar bill. Jamal stalls, before saying the correct answer, Benjamin Franklin. In the interrogation room, the younger policeman quizzes Jamal to see if he knows who is on an Indian bill, but Jamal cannot answer his question. The answer is Gandhi.
The policeman threatens to electrocute Jamal again if he doesn't explain how he knew about the Hundred Dollar Bill and Jamal continues his story. "Bombay had turned into Mumbai," he says, and we see Jamal and Salim walking through large industrial areas.
In the city, Jamal and Salim start working at a restaurant. Salim hates having to work a menial job and complains to Jamal, who tells him that they've come to the city to find Latika. While Jamal wants to find her, Salim insists, "I don't give a shit about her." When Jamal remains intent on finding her, Salim insists, "There are 90 million people in this city, Jamal. Forget about her."
In an underground passageway, Jamal sees a boy from the camp who has been blinded, singing and begging for money. He stares at him before giving him some money—a hundred dollar bill. The beggar boy asks who is on it, and Jamal describes the president and the beggar says, "Benjamin Franklin," then recognizes him as Jamal. The beggar, whose name is Arvind, warns Jamal to look out for Maman, who will get revenge if he can.
"I owe Latika," says Jamal, and Arvind tells Jamal that Latika is on Pila Street, going by the name of "Cherry." Thanking Arvind, Jamal goes in search of Latika. He goes to the red light district and asks the various women about "Cherry." Eventually he and Salim find Latika dancing in a backroom. Jamal bursts into the room, where Latika instantly recognizes him. As Maman and the other men wander in, they instantly recognize the boys, and Maman says, "I never forget a face, especially one that I own."
"You really thought you could just walk in and take my prize away?" says Maman, telling them that Latika is a virgin worth a lot of money. When Maman tells the men to take Salim and Jamal away, Salim pulls out a gun and threatens Maman with it, ordering him to get on his knees, then telling the other men to get on their knees and demanding money from them. Maman drops a bunch of coins on the ground and tells Salim to disappear with Jamal and forget the whole thing. Salim is not convinced, however, and shoots Maman. Jamal, Salim, and Latika escape the room.
Back on the game show, the host asks Jamal who invented the revolver. We see a flashback of Salim shooting a revolver, and Jamal correctly answers the question: Samuel Colt.
The children run into a large abandoned hotel and run up the stairs to a room, where Salim pours them cups of various liquors. Jamal brings Latika a towel while she showers, and Salim leaves the room. "You're a sweet boy, Jamal," says Latika, taking the towel and going back in the bathroom. Meanwhile Salim wanders through the streets of the city, eventually finding a group of gangsters and asking after Javed Khan, their leader. He tells them that he killed Maman while pulling out the revolver, as Javed Khan comes up behind him, asking if he actually killed Maman. When Salim tells him he did, Javed Khan responds, "Good. My enemy's enemy is a friend." Javed Khan calls Salim over and offers him a position in the gang.
Back in the hotel, Latika tells Jamal she thought he forgot her. "Not for one moment, it's our destiny," he says. The next day, Salim comes back to the hotel and tells Jamal to get out of the room. When Jamal protests, Salim tells him to do as he says, and demands sexual attention from Latika, on the grounds that he saved her life. Suddenly Jamal attacks Salim and the boys struggle. Eventually, Salim forces Jamal into the hall, saying, "I'm number one now," and locking Jamal out of the room.
When Jamal beats on the door, Salim opens it and points the gun at Jamal's head, threatening to shoot him. Jamal does not leave, and Latika comes up behind Salim and tells him to leave. The scene shifts back to the policemen's office. "So, did you see them again?" asks the younger policeman, to which Jamal responds, "I wouldn't be here if I had."
Jamal tells the policemen that Latika is the most beautiful woman in the world, and when the older one makes a joke about her being a "slum bitch," Jamal attacks him angrily. He has to be restrained and the policeman says, "Money and women, the reasons to make the most mistakes in life. Looks like you're mixed up with both."
The policeman still does not believe that Jamal knew the answers on the game show and asks why he would admit to being an accomplice to murder to avoid a charge of fraud. Jamal simply responds, "When somebody asks me a question, I tell them the answer."
"So how did you manage to get on the show?" the policeman asks, which launches us back into Jamal's story. We see him at his job at a call center as a chaiwala. One of the callers asks Jamal to take over his calling duties for a moment, and Jamal reluctantly does so. When he sits down at the desk, many of the callers around him call in to become a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Suddenly a woman starts talking on the phone and Jamal begins talking to her. When he fails to convince her that he lives in Scotland like her, she hangs up. He then types the names "Latika" and "Salim" into the database. He finds some numbers for Salim and makes some calls trying to find his old friend. Eventually, Salim picks up and Jamal begins to speak the call center script, but Salim recognizes his voice. "Is that you brother?" he asks, and tells him that he had to leave the hotel all those years ago because Maman's men were searching for him.
Back on the game show, Jamal answers a question about Cambridge Circus, the answer to which he learned working at the call center.
Analysis
In this section of the flashback, Jamal becomes more intent on finding Latika, and sets about searching for her in the city. While Salim does not care about finding her, Jamal has a firm belief that he will be able to locate his childhood sweetheart, sifting through the 90 million people in the city. Jamal's belief in his ability to find Latika, in spite of having no leads, makes his story that much more of a fairy tale. His belief in his own desire gives wings to his wants in a way that approaches something magical or divine.
One cinematographic tricks that Danny Boyle employs often in the film is the use of a diagonally angled shot. Throughout, we see shots filmed at a slight angle, askant. This angular shooting, often in conjunction with very quick cuts, creates a playful and adventurous atmosphere in the storytelling, and makes the narrative seem very exciting.
Jamal is finally reunited with his beloved Latika. She is in the red light district, being trained in the art of seduction, with the promise that her virginity will one day fetch a lot of money for Maman and the other gangsters. After living an adventurous but generally low-risk life for the last few years, Jamal is once again thrust into danger when he encounters Maman. However, this time, Salim is older, tougher, and intent on revenge.
A thematic thread throughout the film is Jamal's belief in destiny. In the beginning, it is insinuated that the reason that he wins Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is because "it is written." Then, his search for Latika is motored by his belief in their mutual destiny, a conviction he tells her when they catch up at the abandoned hotel. For Jamal, destiny is not simply what happens to you, but a more complicated confluence of events and occurrences with actions one takes. Jamal does not simply happen upon Latika accidentally, but his desire to find her leads him to her. In this way, the film shows that destiny is something that brings together free will and the ineffable—a karmic collaboration.
The fragmented and nonlinear structure of the plot heightens the dramatic tension of the film. While it seems that the climactic event—Jamal winning the game show—is revealed within the first few moments of the film, the sequence of events that lead to this victory are far less straightforward than one might have imagined. Eventually, Jamal's quest to find Latika and tie up the loose ends of his dramatic past become the narrative center of the film, and the game show is more of a device that helps to weave together his story than a narrative in and of itself.
