Jamal is an 18-year-old contestant on an Indian quiz show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” He is amazing the country with his knowledge and is able to answer question after question with his fortune mounting. But how can someone who grew up in the slums of Mumbai be so smart? At the outset the police arrest and question him on the assumption that he must be cheating.

This becomes the framework for flashing back to meet Jamal as a boy and his brother Salim. We are taken through his life of struggle in the slums, the death of his mother during a riot, the maneuvering to escape the horrible fates that befall so many other children and the problems faced as young adults. In the process we view the incidents in which Jamal acquired the answers to questions that he would be asked on the quiz shows. There is also the pressure on him as a result of the master of ceremonies who has his own agenda.

The screenplay tells a sprawling story that gives us a sense of life and struggle in India. The score is an outstanding one that gives the film an extra lift. The story moves, and although it grows melodramatic as it races toward the climax, its scope and effectiveness surmount any tendency toward excess.

The cast is formidable, including Dev Patel as Jamal, and Freida Pinto as the Latika, whom Jamal loves against all the odds that confront them. (Mahesh Khedkar as the boy Jamal, Rubina Ali as the young Latika and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as the boy Salim are excellent in their own right.) The tension mounts in the drama, begging the question of how far Jamal can go in racking up money on the quiz show, and whether he can extricate himself and Latika from an entangled web of corruption and danger.