Run, don’t walk to see the best independent film of this century. This movie tells a poignant story of a Slumdog Chai Runner’s journey to find his true love.  Set in the extreme poverty of the slums of India, the adventures of these beggar children will remind you of Charles Dickens at his best.

Jamal and his brother are orphaned when their mother dies trying to save them from a mob of angry Hindus attacking defenseless Muslim women and children in the streets of Mumbai (Bombay). The chase scenes of the kids running through the slums of Bombay are exhilarating. Left with nothing and no one to care for them, the brothers share their meager shelter with a homeless orphan girl named Latika, with whom a camaraderie is formed.

The cinematography and the editing move the story forward artfully, without ever making you aware that you’re watching a film. All the trades are equal to the high quality of the writing and directing with the exception of the production and postproduction audio. The score is top notch. The soundtrack is worth acquiring by itself. India and its people present a perfect backdrop to the timeless story of struggle and survival.

If Frank Capra were alive today, he would be making films like this in Bollywood. Surviving their poverty and loss without ever sacrificing their dignity, this film shows that Hollywood is no longer just a geographical place, but anywhere that new technologies are used to tell compelling stories with dynamic characters.

Fernando Merirelles's film “City of God” was this century’s benchmark for gritty coming of age movies about the different roads that lead out of poverty. "Slumdog" takes the genre to an even higher level of realism and suspense.

Director Boyle gets great performances out of all his young actors, especially Freida Pinto, who plays Latika. This young actress has a presence that leaps off the screen. Boyle has you sitting forward on the edge of your seat with your eyes wide open, waiting to see the outcome that awaits this Third World Romeo and Juliet.

The film's flashback scenes show the audience the tragic and comic life that leads the young boy, Jamal, to a reunion with his true love Latika, and a chance to win the Hindu version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

I recommend seeing it in the theater, buying the DVD when it’s released and viewing it on television every time it shows. "Slumdog" is one of those rare films that you can see over and over again. This is a film people will be talking about, as the best of it’s kind, for a very long time to come.

Slumdog is rated R for some violence and language.    

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