How effectively has Slumdog Millionaire been regulated?

As with all movies, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) are entitled to regulate any film ever produced. Their aims are as follows:

• protect  the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks

• empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices

• recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law

• respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research

• provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit

• work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems

• provide an effective service to enforcement agencies

Surprisingly, it is simply only one scene that gave Slumdog it's aged 15 rating. This appears at the start of the film, when Jamal is a young child. When shown his childhood, we encounter a particular scene when a religious riot begins. This starts with a man hitting Jamal's mother over the head, causing her to drown. This in itself is extremely difficult to watch, however helps to represent the extremity of the conditions Jamal has to encounter. The key moment however is when a man is set alight, and for an extended period of time we see his burning body panic and move. This key moment is what differentiated the film from an age 12 rating, to an age 15. Boyle's reason to keep this scene in the film in-fact played a huge part on the impact of the film. It is what causes Jamal to run away, and encounter the Indian God Ganesh. In the different narrative of Jamal on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?', this is what allows him to have the knowledge for the answer. Therefore, to remove this small scene would have had a huge impact on the rest of the film, so much so that it wouldn't have flowed coherently. 

Obviously this meant that Slumdog's audience would have been more limited than what was implied, yet perhaps this audience is more suited to the film. An older demographic would more understandably be able to recognise the film's themes, as well as being able to comprehend the often violent and uncomfortable scenes.