Indian slum story makes millions

I don't know whether its the poverty or the story, though I'm willing to bet that Amitabh's stating what is popular, at a time when reality is best kept under wraps, (note that UNICEF said that India had some of the worst rates of child survival in the world. In 2006, 2.5 million children under five died in India and China, of whom 2.1 million were in India) and so latter's the real reason why Slumdog Millionaire is now the biggest Indian blockbuster ever.

As of 19 January, the film was running in 601 theatres in the US, and had collected $42.7 million (Rs207 crore today) in gross box office earnings. Across the world, the film, made on a budget of $15 million, has already earned $50.4 million, including £1.75 million (around Rs12.65 crore) in the UK in the first week of release there in January. In its ninth week in America, its reach is much wider than that of Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.’s Chandni Chowk to China, which is the biggest Indian film release worldwide, running in 125 screens across the US and Canada.