Slumdog Millionaire - Genre

Despite its narrative structure Slumdog Millionaire is said to be very typical and conventional of the Romantic Drama genre but could also be considered a hybrid genre as it also displays elements of Bollywood, Social Realism and British Asian cinema.

The main themes of destiny and true love are very conventional of the genre and are seen throughout as Jamal instantly falls in love with Latika and makes it his goal to be reunited with her and although they are separated never lets go of the hope that they will one day be reunited. The repeated mentions of destiny in the film reinforce this with lines like 'maybe it's written' and 'it's our destiny' showing that maybe it is destiny that the two lovers will reunite in the end and live happily ever after.

The representation of the female love interest is very stereotypical of the genre as Latika is the 'damsel in distress' character type, needing to be rescued by Jamal from the gangsters controlling her on more than one occasion. In many shots of Latika she is over lit and shot from a high angle usually with soft, romantic music playing in the background to portray Jamal's feelings for her, this sets her up as the object of his affections and something to be looked at, this is also reinforced by the fact many shots of Latika are shot in a voyeuristic way with Jamal and the audience looking at her without her being aware.

Another convention that can bee seen in the movie is the many obstacles l stopping the two lovers from being together as from their first meeting they are torn apart and continue to be separated until they eventually defeat these obstacles at the end and live happily ever after. These obstacles include Salim who lets go of her hand and lies to Jamal about where she is. The theme of obstacles is also presented on screen in the way that when Jamal and Latika are seen together on screen there is usually something between them, for example in the scene where Jamal finds Latika at the gangsters house, he is blocked by the gate and is looking through it at her, connoting that she is just out of his reach and when she rejects his advances to run away with him the is once again blocked from her by the glass door once again being able to see his dream but not being able to reach it.

There are also many Bollywood influences seen throughout Slumdog Millionaire, the most obvious is the nod to Bollywood movies with the dance sequence during the credit, there are also some typical Bollywood themes displayed in the film like  the theme of convenient coincidences with Jamal being able to find Latika in every place he looks, Jamal's reversal of fortune going from a boy from the slums to a millionaire and conniving villains seen with the gangsters