Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire Quotes and Analysis

"If it wasn't for Rama and Allah, I'd still have a mother."

Jamal

Jamal says this to the police inspector who is trying to figure out how he knew the answer to a question on the quiz show that asked what is always shown in the god Rama's right hand. Immediately after Jamal's mother died, he saw a child dressed as the god, a profound and memorable vision that seared into his memory an image of Rama, helping him answer the quiz question.

"No, but maybe its written, no?"

Jamal

Prem asks if Jamal is ready for the final question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and this is Jamal's answer. His whole life has led up to this single moment, and everything he has been through, for good or for bad, has given him the answers thus far. He says this because he feels that it might be his destiny to win the game show and also because Prem, the host, alluded to his victory being "written" when they talked in the bathroom during the commercial break.

"What does it matter? It's my show."

Prem

Prem has had Jamal kidnapped by the police for interrogation because he suspects that Jamal has been cheating. He then tells the show's director that he gave Jamal the wrong answer to the last question to try and lead him astray. The director can't believe Prem gave a wrong answer to a contestant, and this is Prem's response.

"I went on, because I knew she'd be watching."
Jamal

After Jamal has been questioned by the police officers, he reveals to them that he went on the show as a way of reuniting with Latika. Winning the money is less important to him than reuniting with his beloved.

"My enemy's enemy is a friend."

Javed Khan

After Salim kills Maman, the gangster, he goes to the rival crime boss, Javed Khan, and tells him what he's done. Javed accepts him into the gang based on the fact that he has killed Maman, and this line thus begins Salim's life of crime.

"What the hell can a slumdog possibly know?"

Policeman

The policemen who kidnap Jamal on the eve of his victory in order to question him cannot believe that someone with such a limited education could possibly get so far in the game show. Because he is a "slumdog," it strikes them as impossible that he should fare so well in a trivia show that is rigged to reward people of more upper-class backgrounds. This line epitomizes the disbelief that the world feels towards Jamal's success.

Jamal: I love you.

Latika: So what?

Jamal & Latika

When Jamal sneaks into Javed Khan's housing complex to find Latika, he tells her that he loves her. While he expects her to return the feeling and run away with him immediately, she is trapped in Javed's clutches and as a result cannot see that their love for one another will save her. She hardens herself to make their disconnection easier, saying, "Who cares?" to signal to Jamal that he ought to forget about her and leave her to her sorry fate.

"I thought we'd be together only in death."

Latika

At the end of the film, Latika and Jamal are finally reunited after she has been freed from Javed's clutches and he has won an unthinkable amount of money. Neither of them can quite believe that they are actually getting reunited, and Latika tells Jamal that she thought they could never be together in life and would have to wait until death to be connected.

"God is great!"

Salim

After helping Latika escape from Javed, Salim fills a bathtub with money, and climbs in holding a gun, prepared to take the fall for the escape. When Javed and his men come in and shoot Salim, he knows that his fate is death, but he seeks redemption from his god. A life of crime and violence has left Salim with only religion as his last comfort, and right before he dies, he asks to be remembered for his redemptive act rather than for his sins.

"I'll wait for you at the train station every day at five."

Jamal

This line shows Jamal's devotion to Latika. When Latika refuses to try and escape Javed Khan's house with him, he tells her that his offer to help her escape and start a new life still stands, and that he will wait for her at the train station at a certain time every day.