The story follows Jamal Malick (Dev Patel), an Indian boy who has grown up in the slums of Mumbai. Jamal gets onto Who Wants to be a Millionaire when he is 18 and does amazingly well. He is arrested and accused of cheating (there are some disturbing parts where Jamal is tortured so use caution when watching). The movie then takes us back and forth between the show, where Jamal is answering questions, to the police who interrogate him as to how he knew the answers and Jamal's childhood. It is his childhood that has taught him the answers. Obviously its so coincidental that it could never happen in real life but the point of the movie isn't coincidence.

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto (who plays Letika, the girl he's in love with) do an excellent job but its the children who sell the story. Most of the move revolves around Jamal, his brother Salim, and later Letika. Jamal and Salim refer to themselves as the Musketeers, Ahtos and Portos, and soon Letika is adopted in as the third Musketeer. The littlest Jamal (played by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) is adorable. Not to mention a brilliant little actor. The movie is sweet, romantic, and heartbreaking all in one. At the end, we even get a traditional Bollywood dance, albeit without the costumes. It's one movie that should not be missed.