In theaters : November 12, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Fox Searchlight Pictures

Jamal Malik, a penniless eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ?” But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. After all, how could an uneducated street kid possibly know so much ? Determined to get to the bottom of Jamal’s story, the jaded Police Inspector spends the night probing Jamal’s incredible past, from his riveting tales of the slums where he and his brother Salim survived by their wits to his hair-raising encounters with local gangs to his heartbreak over Latika, the unforgettable girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery : what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show ? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out…

• Genre:Drama • Director:Danny Boyle • Cast:Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto

Understanding :

Words :
 Find the equivalent in the summary :

 poor, unbelievable, exhausted, extraordinary, poor districts, apparently

 Find the English for :

 tricherie, fouiller, se lève, téléspectateurs

Questions and anticipation :

Who is Jamal ? Who is Salim ? Who is Latika ? Where does the story take place ? How is the story going to be told ? (narrative technique)

Cultural background : find information about Mumbai :

Cities in India – Mumbai & Bollywood

Where is Mumbai ? /mʊm’baɪ/ What are some interesting facts or statistics about this city that used to be named Bombay ? Click here to view some pictures of modern Mumbai. Find information about Bollywood : what is it ? Where does the name “Bollywood” come from ?

Trailer :

A report from the BBC :  [1]