Slumdog Millionaire to grace Kochi

British director Danny Boyle's British-Indian film Slumdog Millionaire, for which Indian music wizard A.R. Rahman recently won the Golden Globe for the Best Composer in Critics Choice Awards 2008, will be premiered in Kochi on January 23 (Friday) by Metro Film Society in association with Sridhar Cinema. The film has won accolades from Golden Globe for best film, direction, screenplay and music score.

Slumdog Millionaire revolves around an 18-year-old orphan Jamal Malik (Patel) from the slums of Mumbai, who wins the jackpot of 20 million rupees on India's reality show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'. Jamal participated in the show not for money but to reach his missing girlfriend Latika (Freida Pinto), a devoted fan of the show, who watches it without fail.

But after the show is completed for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. They question how a street kid can know so much as to win the first prize in such a prestigious quiz. Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slums where he, his brother and his missing girl friend Latika grew up, their adventures together and encounters with local gangs. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answers to the game show's questions.

The film, based on Vikas Swarup"s bestselling novel 'Q&A', also stars Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla and Irrfan Khan. Slumdog Millionaire's all-India release has also been slated for Friday with more than 200 prints (in both Hindi and English). However, the Hindi version titled Slumdog Crorepati is said to have a wider release in the country.

According to reports, the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire will be in India to attend the film's Mumbai premiere on January 22. "The Mumbai premiere is a special event for all those associated with Slumdog Millionaire. After the film has released in the US and UK and has become what it has, it is like a homecoming for the film's cast and crew. We are planning a gala event with a special list of invitees,'' said Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studio, which releases the film in India.