I completely disagree with this critic. Slumdog Millionare, along with Thousand Splendid Suns, is about the horrors that a certain group of people have face, such as women or children. But it in no ways glorifies it, and overall the take-home message is one of triumph.

Jenny, San Francisco,

The problem with the term 'poverty porn' is that the film never asks you to feel good about the poverty you are watching, but the fact that the central character struggles to and eventually finds his long lost love in spite of the challenges presented to him by living in Bombai slums.

Aidan McCaffery , London, UK

I too believe you have missed the point. The glimmers of light set amongst the filth and the squalor are what any sane viewer should revel in. The film draws on bollywood elements but it shines a spotlight on the realities of India which are traditionally swept under the carpet in bollywood cinema.

Maya, London, UK

To aver that this film "revels" in the "violence, degradation and horror" of its characters is a bit of a stretch. I've seen this film twice, and I see nothing in it that glorifies violence by any stretch of the imagination. The critic here has completely missed the point.

Bevan Davies, Kennebunk, USA

you totally miss the point. the violence wasn't supposed to be entertaining. it was supposed to be revealing, or at least to make you sympathise with the main character. it's not the type of violence you would encounter in an action film. this is definitely not pulp fiction with children.

tyler, guelph, canada

NOT brilliant at all. Cinema has many other brilliant film makers, and maybe it will do you good to realize this. I would advise you to really study cinema for a while and watch the real masters before you attribute brilliance to someone like Boyle.

treane, Mumbai, India

Atrocious moments exist in other classics like La Vita e Bella and Cidade de Deus; movies with humour in them too. That does not mean it's porn or reveling in misery. These are just commonplace DIRE human situations with well-woven stories, like those that won Tagore and Garcia Marquez Nobel Prizes.

Sergio Guillen, San Jose, Costa Rica

I think it was painful to go through the long movie.
I feel they want people to laugh at the cost of little
poor children.There are poor people in every country.

Ben, Chicago, US

Utter nonsense. To call the scenes of abject poverty and violence "porn" is to assume our pleasure in the film results from those scenes. But we enjoy fairy tales not because we revel in Cinderella's abuse but because we celebrate her triumphs. You react as the Victorians first did to Oliver Twist.

Caroline, Bethesda, MD, USA

As someone who grew up in Mumbai, I loved the movie. So does Alice Miles want people to see the reality of these children's lives? Danny Boyle is not glorifying it-he is showing it as shocking. Does Ms. Miles take viewers as morons that they don't see that ? Her sense of entitlement is shocking

Raj, New York, USA

Outrageous is the title of the movie. Where is the outrage for the poverty and the corrupted system which has created all this inequality and poverty for millions of people? If there was no poverty, there wouldn't be anything to show in the movie.

Mitesh Damania, Anaheim, USA

Why are you shocked and horrified by reality? Are you so far gone into your life of comfort that you are so disturbed by what a majority of the world has to experience on a day to day basis? Darfur? Indonesia? Iraq? Afganistan?Israel/Palestine?

Dolly, Kansas City, USA

hey Alice, ya i totally agree with yoour article, people of mumbai and India should really avoid such movies and they shud do a reality check with themselves as to what subjects they glorify and what not. I wish they dedicate some part of money go to a charity that works with slums in mumbai.

Shivanjali, Pune, India

Am fascinated by the response from Indians in this section. As an Indian, I have seen how we can live right next to abject poverty and be completely disconnected. Sure, India has 123,000 millionaires but the poverty of millions in India is very real. Recognizing it is the 1st step to tackling it.

Krithi, Heidelberg, Germany

For me the point was not whether it accurately depicted what happens or whether it had a message.

It was that we humans are not up to witnessing such depictions of cruelty without it seriously affecting us. I could barely look at some scenes. Please filmmakers, don't inflict this on anybody.

Virgil, Brisbane, Australia

Alice, don’t you know that critics said the exact same of Satyajit Ray’s "Apu"? Did you close your eyes during all the joyful scenes amid cruel poverty? Boyle succeeds because he shows (partly) that slums are really just less well-kept neighborhoods, full of the extremes of love, sorrow and dreams.

John, Philadelphia, USA

And yeah, if I were going to a 'feel-good' movie, I suppose I also would have been unpleasantly surprised. I do, however, posses basic reading and thinking skills and figured a movie set in the slums, about a boy who finds himself in the most unlikely of situations, might contain some gritty stuff.

Kat, Davis, CA, U.S.

How was this movie 'reveling' in the poverty of the slums, I don't know. I got the impression that if anything, it was only showing a small part of the misery and poverty, therefore sparing the sensitive eyes of Westerners. Also, the use of the word 'porn' next to the word 'poverty' is offensive.

Kat, Davis, CA, U.S.

Why is it that I bet if the same type of film was made by a UK team in the USA, rather than Bollywood say in the streets of Hollywood (ex: infamous "Skid Row" or "South Central"), then you and others critics in the UK and the US would trip over yourselves to be first to exclaim its "gritty realism."

John , Philadelphia, USA

It is perceptions such as yours that are ruining the beauty of this film. YOU choose to revel in these scenes, and OTHERS label them in a way that lightens the material. The movie itself is brilliant, and it is honest, and it shows the rise of this individual from his background.

Aks, Fort Worth, USA

Why should you 'enjoy' these scenes anyway? Like A Fine Balance, or White Tiger, these images are not to be enjoyed, but to be taken lessons from. They are to jar us, shock us, and drive us into action and thought. They are not there to 'entertain' us.

Aks, Fort Worth, USA

Slumdog Millionaire is a treat for westerners cashing on the poverty in India. The film is offensive and ignorant of sensibilities. The presence of Lord Ram in the midst of riots is offensive to the vast Hindu community. Its such a stereotypical view of India undermining the nations progress!

Anandita Kumar, New York City, United States

Slumdog Millionaire is three movies, condensed into one. First: a Hollwood/Bollywood potboiler. Second: an electrifying vision of the brutality of life for the poor in India. Third: a vision of young, developing India: the hip-hop generation. Absolutely ngenious.

ron moline, oak park, IL, U.S.A.

Like most Hollywood (and Bollywood) movies, this movie is prejudiced against the Hindu community. Extreme poverty in a developing country where fanatical idol worshippers (Hindus) enjoy killing innocent minorities = good shot at Oscar glory.

Rajdeep, Mumbai, India

Please. No one "revelled" in the scenes of atrocity, nor did they enjoy the child abuse. Yes, it was terrible and hard to stomach, but I didn't "enjoy" that part of it. The part I enjoyed was the message that love can triumph over terrible adversity, and happy endings DO exist.

Billy, Bandung, Indonesia

Are Bollywood films somehow more accurate? Do they paint a more realistic picture of actual life in Mumbai? Let's get serious here folks.

Billy, Bandung, Indonesia

Read A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry for a similar depiction of Mumbai. I was uplifted by it, just as I was by this wonderful film. And beggars are treated just as badly there.

This isn't porn: it is the reality of poverty such as we never see in the west. Naked poverty, but not porn.

Peter Reid, Plymouth, UK

It must be remembered that India gives shades of gray a whole new meaning. It defies a simplistic take on seemingly apparent situations.Slumdog is a portrayal of what is, shot with power, feeling and depth. It will do well in India because it's a great story told really well. Boyle,hats off to you!

Naomi, London, India

There are good things which Danny Boyle could have showed about India, keep in mind that he is catering to western audience. I have been asked in US atleast 10 times by the people who saw this movie that I lived in a slum when I lived in India.Now it looks like all Indians should move in to slums.

Niranjan, Reston,VA, USA

Last year I spent 2 wks working 4 a charity in a Delhi slum & I enjoyed this film a lot. It brought back memories, happy & sad & I was glad it didn't shy away from the more brutal side of poverty. It's an unrealistic, fairy-tale-type film, but I think the slum kids we got to know would've loved it!

Dan King, Leeds, UK

Here's a problem I have with a lot of the criticism: conflating the label the film has been given with the film itself. Perhaps it has been mislabeled as "feelgood." But that lies with critics, not the film. Is it a powerful film, on its own merits? That is the question, not the accuracy of the BBFC

Preston, Boston, MA, USA

I won't particularly object to representations of poverty in India. It is a fact, whether we like it or not. But Slumdog is a kitschy over-simplification of poverty. Thousands live all across India in abject poverty, but they are not necessarily criminalised the way it is portrayed in the film

Pearl, New Delhi, India

Being from Mumbai, this movie is a reality check for all that 80% of the world live in similar situations.

The point being that resilience, love, loyalty and gaining joy even in small things that gives hope even in the most dire circumstances describes MUMBAI to the T - is the central theme

Wendy D'Sa Biloria, Schiedam, The Netherlands

I'm disappointed with the movie, it projected India very cruelly. There is nothing special abt it except Rehman music. It only shows child abuse, poverty, and cruelty. May be thats y it got Golden globe awards. If you show something good abt India, it will never get awards in western world.

soujanya, Birmingham, USA

I have been so upset since seeing some of this movie...I had to leave because I couldn't watch the violence and hear people laughing about me. Thank you for writing this article and expresssing what I couldn't put into words. How could such horrorid things happening to children be funny?

andrea miller, West Vancouver, Canada

Rebecca, "it stands completely and defiantly apart from the brutality and sadness" when it is convenient to do so, to further its contrived plot. I wonder how many slum kids could afford to see this movie and share your uplifting joyousness. Will any revenue from the film go to the slums?

troy, brisbane, Australia

I cringed throughout the film.The acts were so sickening.It offered no hope to slum children or beggars,since its catharsis lied in winning a tv quiz show,a plot u rightly call banal.I was shocked to see peope laughing at jokes,two minutes after seeing a scene of absolute pain/poverty.Feel good?No.

Jai, London,

Danny Boyle has been quite clear about his unease at the film being branded 'feel-good'. Reacting so vehemently to marketing is painfully shallow and calling the film 'poverty porn' is an insult to the brilliant young actors who portray the horror and the hope of Mumbai in such an inspiring way.

steve, London,

At last someone who agrees with me and sees through this vile film. I walked out after the scene where the child was blinded, and without wishing to make myself seem particularly virtuous I am horrified that the rest of the viewing public seem able to sit through and applaud this litany of horrors

Quentin, London,

..it's a story about luck, about determination, about "destiny" (at least questioning it) and a love story. It's like Oliver Twist - a comic story with a serious underbelly. What's not feelgood about that? I thought it was great, except for Dev P, who was far too hangdog.

ruth Rising, London, UK

Peter Adams, Neenah, Wisconsin

I completely agree with you. The director did not know what to make of the movie in the end and in trying to be eveything the it fell flat just near the end. It was sad to see the 'end' of the movie as a parody on the serious issues shown in the movie.

Rakesh Kumar, Bangalore, India

Nonsense.
I agree the film is simplistic and understates the horror of the suffering it depicts, but it does not 'revel' in it as you say. The film is full of revelry, but the reason that joyousness is so uplifting is because it stands completely and defiantly apart from the brutality and sadness.

Rebecca, London, UK

Well done, Alice. The best review for slumdog I've read. Almost every other reviewer seems to revel in the feel good nature of it. Of course its well made cinematically but there is little mention of its exploitative aspects elsewhere.

troy, brisbane, Australia

William of Penrith, I've driven passed those slums and I've never seen drop dead gorgeous slum people kissing on railway platforms as trains rush by and tousle their hair beautifully. It is a cliche that uses the colour and texture of poverty for its own ends - Poverty porn.

troy, brisbane, Australia

Seems you should be more angry with the reality of the situation in India, and not the movie. Get a clue.

BJ DeHut, Los Angeles, United States

I watched the film and expected it to be quite lightehearted as it was billed as a feel good film, i certainly did not feel good watching it. It is an excellent film however, if you haven't seen it be prepared for some soul searching as the film hits you with what true poverty is.

amza, sutton colodfield, uk

Don't forget the attrocious storytelling. Only a single line was given to how the main character even got on the game show. And then at the end, after all the listed horrors all Mumbai ends up dancing in the train station. It's like they started filming "Shindler's List" and edited it into "Grease.

Peter Adams, Neenah, Wisconsin,

As a Californian, who has lived in comfort and prosperity my entire life, I viewed the film and was horrified, not titaliated, by the events that were portrayed. I think it is an incredible tool for people just like myself, prompting us to think, and perhaps act!

Alice, Napa, Us

Having been to India, I can tell you that the mutilation of beggar children to appeal to the emotions of street corner philanthropists not only takes place, but that it is (in the metro cities at least) horrifyingly commonplace.

chris bayliss, Nottingham, UK

If those who review it call it a 'feel-good' movie, why not let your children watch it? If it's going to make them feel good then they should see it!

Chris, Suffolk, UK

As a brit who lived & worked in Mumbai I thought this film gave the 1st accurate portrayal of the power & horrors of the Maximum city. Seeing India as a karmic centre of peace & love does not help it move forward. It is a high speed crash of cultures & there are casualties, but there is always hope

Gail Arkless, Sydney, Australia

I haven't watched Slumdog Millionaire, so I can't comment on that, but you are deeply unfair to A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini is not obsessed with rape and he generally alluded to violence rather than detailing it. I thought it was a very sensitive book.

Rowan, London,

It's a fantastic movie - absorbing, fast-paced, well-casted, etc - so it's no surprise that critics have given it excellent reviews. The feel-good factor comes through following a story of adversity towards happiness (the romance, duh?). It does not glorify street child poverty - anything but.

Alex, Egham, UK

Hallelujah! This is just what I thought when I saw this; feel good is not how I would describe it. Why aren't its makers promoting it as the film that reveals to the West just how far India has still to come? I wouldn't change the film a bit, even the ending, but the critical attitude is baffling

Nell, Cambridge,

Slumdog Millionaire has recieved generally positive reviews from Indians and Nepalis some of whom have knowledge of the conditions depicted in the film. A correction: dnaindia.com is no more an 'online newspaper' than The Times, it is the online edition of DNA (Daily News and Analysis)

Adrian, Delhi, India

Yeah, filmmakers and artists should not engage in real life depictions of the gritty existence of those in slums who are well below our middle-class means. Why should we be subjected to these deplorable conditions that children must live in? Britain needs to get Hugh Grant to make us laugh more!!!

Dan, New Jersey, USA

India is a wonderful country in which terrible things happen. I didn't "enjoy" the shocking scenes of violence and exploitation; nor was I as shocked as most would be, having spent a lot of time in India. The film shows Westerners an aspect of poor countries to which they would rarely be exposed.

Faustino, Brisbane (ex-pat), Australia

I saw the movie. It's ok, but Danny isn't the first to show the underbelly of booming India. Mira Nair had made a similar movie about trials & tribulations of slum dwellers in India aptly named 'Salam Bombay' (1988 )which was more hard-hitting. Why did Danny make the actors dance in the end?

Rakesh Kumar, Bangalore, India

I guess everyone needs to make up their own mind about the film. However, if it provokes discussion about child poverty and helps to bring positive change, then it will , at any event, have achieved something good too.

kd, devon, uk

Poverty in India was rampant 15 years ago ?Where have you been lately.
Poverty is still rampant in India just as it always has been.Not far from the hotels in Mumbai are slums, drop into Calcutta for a while and revel at the wonderful life style of the very poor people living on the streets.
Awful.

Howard Leech, Gdansk, Poland

Alice I am so grateful to you for this article. I was going to see the film but now won't - I had no idea it was violent. I loathe and avoid depictions of violence and torture on screen - I am well enough aware of the awfulness in the world without polluting my mind and my soul with terrible images.

Lyn, Birmingham , UK

As for Tom of London's comments and those of Alice Miles concerning the believability of the story and events, the film is based on a book by Vikas Swarup who is an Indian himself and (currently a Deputy High Commissioner) and has first hand knowledge of what is written. Basic research Alice Miles!

Steven Kovacks, Bracknell, England

You have completely missed the point. This film is about showing how good things can come out of bad and horrific experiences, and how staying true to yourself and beliefs can work. Its shows the resourcefulness of mankind when faced with terrible situations. It shows how karma works.

Fred, london,

I thought it an excellent film,The only thing wrong with it was its marketing which was misleading.

Roger, London,

I absolutely agree with Alice Miles. I was appalled by the violence of Slumdog Millionaire, not just because its relentlessness made the whole thing completely unbelievable.

Tom, London, UK

In the West it's fashionable at the moment to read books and watch films about third world hardship I wonder if this post colonial guilt culture will extend long into the economic downturn?.

Jim, Preston, UK

You missed the point totally about the Indian reaction to White Tiger, and also the point of this film. Upper class Indians by and large hated White Tiger because they don't like to admit that poverty still exists, and especially because it depicted the noxious relations between servant and master.

Jason, New Delhi, India

It's an incredible insult to suggest that moviegoers are reveling "in the misery of India's children."

"What do you want to see tonight?"
"Oh, something really horrible happening to children so I can smile about it and feel great."

Am I being too snobby to say it makes me want to help others?

Ciarrai, Boston,

Mike Cane: to read Jack London is one thing; to cinematize depravity and violence is another.

J Davis: I don't get your point: Halo3 deprivation justifies paricide? Or deserves forced viewing of violence on the big screen?

Peter Roddy, Sitka, U.S.A.

I could live with looking at thepoverty but consider Slumdog as the most over-rated film ever. The lead actor has some merit but the script and direction do nothing for me. Danny Boyle is such a lucky man to get all this adultaion for an indifferent film. Just as well I am not on the Oscar panel.

fiona pitt-kethley, cartagena, spain

A beautiful, moving, realistic & thought provoking movie. Brilliant acting by all, especially the children. In Dharavi, the slum, life goes on as usual, hope & pray that the atrocities & suffering of slum-dwellers could be abated. Movies like this make more people aware & stand up for their rights.

Pushpa, Brisbane, Australia

Why does misery and abject poverty have to be sugar coated by a 'story' in this 'feel good' way? Because, as this incisive article indicates, the cinema going populace must be fed 'cake'. And so it goes on and so it will go on.

Paul Delany, rochester, kent

Brilliantly put - "brilliant, horrifying, compelling and awful". Contrasting adjectives couldnt have been so effectively used while nailing the point. Yes, India (and Mumbaiyites) needed to have a look at it first.

Natarajan Ganesan, Arlington VA, USA

Poverty was rampant in India some 15 years ago, which the film shows but it also depicts the way same mumbai has changed over the years.
Regarding the BBFC terming it as comedy, then Vicky Cristina barcelona which won the best film Comedy, was hardly a comedy

meh, london, UK

it's a true reflection of what is happening, ever thought about that?

William, PENRITH, United Kingdom

15 rating? It should be a 12 rating. Every kid who ever complained that life was "unfair" because daddy wouldn't let them play Halo 3 should be forced to watch this film.

Comedy? Funny? No. Black humour, maybe. The story device was ingeniously done to leaven the reality of third world poverty.

J Davis, London, UK

Ever read "The People of the Abyss" by Jack London?

Mike Cane, NY, NY