Slumdog Millionaire appeals

There are many appeals of the film Slumdog Millionaire, one of these is the expectations of this film, the expectations of a generic romantic drama are met as the themes and conventions are extremely conventional meaning that the film will have met these expectations of the audience. In addition to this expectations are challenged throughout the film, which can also act as an appeal in itself as the audience are constantly bombarded with information and images they do not expect, this is demonstrated when Latika arrives at the train station for Jamal, we as an audience believe that due to the romantic music and slow paced editing and the fact Jamal is looking down at her as she is the main focus of the frame and everything else is out of focus, this is where he finally gets the girl and can live happily ever after. However, this is not the case and expectations are broke as Salim and his gang chase Latika and drag her to a car where she is injured and taken back to Javid. This challenges the audience as the cinematography of this scene makes them believe that this is the moment where all is resolved and Jamal finally wins the girl, but a twist in the narrative shows that isn't the case and audience expectations are challenged making this a huge appeal for the film as many audiences like their expectations being met but also challenged at the same time.

Another way this film attracts its audience is the idea that it is set in Indie, this gives a new dynamic to a conventional romantic drama as it is generic for them to be set in an American high school or involves the working class boy fighting for an upper class princess whereas in Slumdog Millionaire Jamal and Latika both come from the same backgrounds and are separated and have to overcome every obstacle in their ways. In addition to this the Indian setting emphasises the themes and gives weight to Jamal and Latika’s relationship as if they were living a lush life it would be typical for him to get the girl but they are in India with over one billion people and are only searching for each other creating more suspense and intensity. One scene that higlights this is where Jamal is on his last question on the game shows and has to use his life line to get the answer, this grasps the audience as they are left hoping Latika makes it to the phone in time and finally when she does the audience are still holding their breath to see Jamal’s reaction to finally reaching her and being able to talk to her only for a little amount of time.

This film appeals to both the mainstream and the explorer as the character types are extreamly relatable and allow the audience to personally identify with them, however the alternative nature of the film and the gritty realism of it attracted the explorer as well. For example Jamal is the underdog with an extreamly powerful past his character development makes him who he is as he begins as a victim however he then takes control of his own life and realises he isn’t a victim he is a survivor. Although the film was for both the mainstream and the explorer many believed the promotion was misleading as on the film poster for the UK it was seen as a “feel good movie” when in actuality the film dealt with unsettling issues such as blinding children so they earn more money when begging.

Overall this film does exactly as a film should it intrigues, excited and engages the audience to ask questions and constantly want more, this one of the reasons why the film was such a huge success as it was something to talk about and be involved in. In addition to this the fact it reached more than one audience type highlighted how much of a hit the film was.