Slumdog Millionaire, the new movie directed by Danny Boyle stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto.  It’s about a young man (Patel) living in the slums of India who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire in hopes to finding his love, Latika (Pinto), and ends up winning a million dollars, but then is accused of cheating.  We sat down with Boyle, and the two cast members to discuss the importance of Bollywood, and how they feel about the overwhelmingly positive feedback about the film, including some buzz about its Oscar potential.

Filmazing:  How do you see this film fitting in with the body of your career? 

Boyle:  It’s funny, I don’t really think of them, the movies I’ve done, as a whole. It’s only when you talk to journalists that you think of them in any kind of connective way or comparative way because you just fall in love with an idea, and you want to make it as passionately and intensely as possible.  Then it’s basically up to you guys to decide where it fits or if it does fit.  It was weird going to India, I became much more sanguine about that. You do your best, you absolutely do your best and then you hand it over and see what people make of it. 

Filmazing:  Had you ever been to India before this project? 

Boyle: No I hadn’t. I’d always wanted to go, and Britain has quite a close connection with her (India) since we were there until 1947 as colonial rulers.  And there is a large Indian population in Britain, but I had never been. So when I read the script, I just fell head over heels in love with the idea.  The story gets you first, and the rest is a bonus.  It’s set in this extraordinary city which is like, the only thing I can compare it to is New York in the 80’s.  You are overwhelmed by the energy of the city; every molecule in the air, the tastes of the city, and everything the city has to offer.  It was a wonderful combination with a great story and characters.

Filmazing: There are some references to Bollywood in the film.  How did you study it and coordinate the music in the film?

Boyle: We have a special number at the end, because you can’t live and work in Mumbai for a year and not dance. You’ve got to dance; it just makes sense.  It would have been like making a film about America but not seeing any motor cars, there would be something wrong if people didn’t dance in Mumbai.   A lot of it comes from the actors, virtually all of the actors are Bollywood actors, so you inevitably pick up a flavor of it.  But the Bollywood comes from the extremes of the story.  The city and India are a place of extremes, and they don’t separate these extremes. There’s terrible poverty and hardship, but there’s an extraordinary resilience and spirit that goes with it.  Bollywood embraces these slightly melodramatic big moments, and we tried to do some of that in the film. 

Q: How do you feel about all the press the movie has received thus far, in particular that it could be an Oscar contender?

Boyle: Well, as my agent said, a few weeks ago we didn’t even have a North American distributor, and now he said everything else is gravy.  It’s unbelievable the reception it’s had, and I’m so pleased because the people in India who helped us make the film, they watch Hollywood, like they just stare at Hollywood.  They love Bollywood, but they also watch Hollywood and they’re all on Google alert.  They Google alert like mad so anything they hear about, like this interview, they’ll pick up on Google alert.  They’re delighted to hear stuff like that.

Filmazing: There’s going to be a lot of US audiences who are going to see you two.  Can you tell me a little bit about yourselves; where you came from, and what other work you’ve done? 

Patel: I got into acting because my mom was traveling to work on the train, and she saw this advertisement on the newspaper saying there was a new teen drama on E4, no acting experience necessary.   I was 16 at the time doing my exams, GCSE’s, which are like exams in London.  I’ve always wanted to be an actor, but didn’t know how to go about it.  I remember her tearing it out and not telling me until the day before the audition.  I said mom you can’t make me do this because I’m not an actor.  She was stubborn and she said she believed in me, and she dragged me to the audition. It was almost like X-Factor, I got a name tag and a number and they paired me up with someone and I read the script. As soon as I started reading the guys from Skins, started smiling and within the second audition I had that role, so that was my birth into acting.

Filmazing: What is Skins?

Patel: It’s a British television series about teens doing bad things.  From there Danny Boyle’s daughter saw me on that show because he was having trouble casting the lead guy because they were all too muscled or something in India.  He was out promoting his film Sunshine at the time so I got myself on tape because I didn’t have an agent, and I met with Danny.  After a few auditions, which were grueling, I got the role.

Pinto: I’m from Bombay and I remember wanting to get into acting ever since I was five because I would stand in front of the mirror, hold a comb in my hand, and pretend it was my microphone.  My mom, like Dev’s mom, pretty much knew that is what I would do.  After I got done with college I got into modeling because the Indian film industry is a very closed industry.  To get into it is really tough, so I thought maybe modeling would give me my ticket, that visibility factor. Then maybe I could get into films, but I got a travel show instead.  I traveled all over South East Asia and other exotic destinations for nine months.  At the end of it, I thought my life’s over, I have nothing to do now, and then Slumdog happened after six months of auditioning.

Filmazing: Can you share some insight on your characters?

Patel: My character has three versions.  There’s a 9-year-old, 14-year-old, and the oldest version, which I play.  His name is Jamal Malik and he’s 18 and has lost his mother at a young age.  He has to fend for himself in the slums and ends up finding a girl on his journey that he falls in love with.  Freida plays her, but he sorts of loses her in the chaos of things.  He believes she’s his soul mate so he’s going to do anything to find her.   Most kids living in the slums like him would probably dream of having new trainers or maybe a car one day, this boy is dreaming of pursing a girl in a city with a population of 18 million people.  It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack, but he’s an optimist so he’s going to stop at nothing to find her.  He knows she’s a big fan of this game show called Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and he thinks that’s his ticket to find her, in a nutshell.

Pinto: My character, Latika, goes through three stages of growth like all the other characters.  She starts off as this really stubborn girl, very feisty, who is looking for love and affection.  She finds it with Jamal and wants to stick with that forever, but unfortunately Bombay is such a chaotic city it makes her lose the love of her life and becomes a toy in the hands of a gangster.  He comes back though, like her knight in shining armor, and rescues her.  It’s just that belief that keeps her going and finally reunites them and reaffirms her faith in destiny.

Also, be sure to head over to GossipSauce for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Slumdog Millionaire.