Got the slumdog DVD a couple weeks ago and finally watched it.
Good movie but not what I expected. I found that it did not really use India as anything other than a backdrop. The story was pure Hollywood, Forest Gump style storytelling but the could have set it in any country and it would have been the same. That being said I liked Forest Gump so I could get into the story.
It is an English film based on an Indian book (Q&A, but I think it's been renamed to Slumdog Millionaire since the movie). It is also inspired directly by Bollywood movies such as Black Friday and Deewaar. There are filming styles that are also based on Bollywood themes or tropes.
Rags to riches themes are not soley a Hollywood theme, many Bollywood films have similar storylines and folk tales the world over also carry similar themes. What is the difference in movies with sport themes like Rocky, Mighty Ducks or Bad News Bears to Chak De! India or Lagaan?
To continue with Hollywood and Bollywood themes overlapping in sport (in this case) we can even compare Like Mike to Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii. Incidentally, both were rubbish!
My point is that Slumdog Millionaire was
not an Indian movie (vague since there are different kinds outside of Bollywood) in writing, but was inspired by an Indian storyline. The second point is that the themes for movie do not vary that much in a general sense so the fact that India (Mumbai) was the back drop for the movie is more significant in its identity than the rags to riches theme.