18-year-old Jamal Malik, an Indian Muslim from the Dharavi slum, is a contestant on the Kaun Banega Crorepati, and is one question away from the grand prize. However, before the question, he is detained and tortured by the police, who suspect him of cheating because of the impossibility of a simple "slumdog" with very little education knowing all the answers. Jamal recounts, through flashbacks, the incidents in his life which provided him with each answer.