As stated “Third world” countries this refers to the term used to describe the economically poor

and technologically backward nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and the
Caribbean, who have preferred to be politically corrected as “Developing Countries” instead of
the derogatory term “Third World”.

With illustrations centered on the Bollywood movie titled” Slumdog Millionaire “it portrays
various reasons for underdevelopment in India.

Numerous reasons ranging from poverty, corruption, externally oriented economy, ethnicity
conflicts, etc.

It could be seen throughout the movie that there was an increasing number of slum population
in big cities of India like Tamil, Bombay, Mumbai, etc.

What is Slum population

This is a global phenomenon which poses several challenges relating to the society, culture,
economy, politics, and environment. It is as a result of unplanned and haphazard is way of
urbanization. With India as a case-study, various characteristics for underdevelopment in India
has been noted with the aid of the movie. The characteristics of underdevelopment in India are
as follows,

1. Poverty: This was the Centre focus of the movie titled “Slumdog Millionaire “. As it portrays
two young men (Jamal and Salim Malik) who were both from the Juhu slum of Mumbai who
struggled to survive with the deprivation of common necessities such as food, clothings, shelter
and safe drinking water. Also with the financial incapability for education, this led the boys in
taking low-paying jobs just for their survival.

2. Environmental degradation: This is the deterioration of the natural environment, including

the atmosphere, bodies of water, soil, and forest. This environmental degradation has led a
large number of increasing slum houses/ population in India. It could be seen as throughout the
movie that there was a large number of slum population in big cities in India.

3. Ethnicity/ religious conflicts: In the movie, it was shown how Jamal and Salim Malik lost their
mother in a religious conflict in Juhu with the social inequalities that stems from cultural ideas
about the relative worth of different genders, races, ethnic groups and social classes

4. Corruption: This has to do with the abuse of public power for personal ends which has
always existed throughout the play of the movie. Jamal who was being accused of cheating in”
who wants to be a millionaire “ show by Prem Kumar the show host. To prove his innocence,
Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their
adventures together on the road , of vicious encounters with local gangs and of Latika, the girl
he loved and lost. He was tortured by the police-men in a precinct accused of cheating a game
show.