Were it not accompanied by all the hype, this would slip by as a perfectly well-meaning escapist romance with a scattering of points to make on social inequality in India and some fairly obvious jabs at the gullibility of Western tourists, amongst other easy targets.
So why has Danny Boyle's latest grabbed the limelight to such a disproportionate extent, with Indian public figures railing against the pretty superficial depiction of slumlife at the bottom of the caste system and all manner of critics outside India falling over each other to heap praise? It's hardly radical fare: even if one considers the limited exposure Western audiences might have had to Indian social realism, the occasional work has got through: Bandit Queen, for example, which offered a far more coruscating depiction of the wounds running through Indian society.
This fairytale, on the other hand, of the street urchin who gets the money and the girl against all odds, is purely on its pedestal through its distribution and glossy Western director.
Anyway, on its own merits, it's attractively shot and zippily paced, with a pair of appealing young leads and an interestingly hybrid soundtrack. And that's about it. Nothing to put you off your popcorn, then.
6/10
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