I am truly surprised at the film that is on everyone's mind right now and the fact that it happened to be shot just 30 minutes away from my home in Mumbai, India. Slumdog Millionaire is an energetic film with an interesting storyline and was shot entirely in two locations that are close to where I live - the world's largest slum, Dharavi, and in slum areas of Juhu. These locations are also near the homes of many of Channel 19 community producers, and for some of them like Venkatesh, these locations are their home!

Perhaps I am out of the loop, but it does feel like the film just popped up out of nowhere and bagged 5 of the 6 awards at the Critics Choice Awards and then went on to be the star film at the Golden Globe Awards this year. The film picked up awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and most notably, for Best Music Score awarded to the famous South Indian composer, A.R. Rahman.