In addition to Swarup 's original novel '' Q & A '' , the film was also inspired by Indian cinema . Tandan has referred to '' Slumdog Millionaire '' as a homage to Hindi cinema , noting that " Simon Beaufoy studied Salim-Javed 's kind of cinema minutely . " Boyle has cited the influence of several Bollywood films set in Mumbai . '' Deewaar '' ( 1975 ) , which Boyle described as being " absolutely key to Indian cinema " , is a crime film written by Salim-Javed based on the Bombay gangster Haji Mastan , portrayed by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan , whose autograph Jamal seeks at the beginning of '' Slumdog Millionaire '' . Anil Kapoor noted that some scenes of the film " are like '' Deewaar '' , the story of two brothers of whom one is completely after money while the younger one is honest and not interested in money . " '' Slumdog Millionaire '' has a similar narrative structure to '' Deewaar '' . '' Satya '' ( 1998 ) , written by Saurabh Shukla ( who plays Constable Srinivas in '' Slumdog Millionaire '' ) , and '' Company '' ( 2002 ) , based on the D-Company , both offered " slick , often mesmerising portrayals of the Mumbai underworld " and displayed realistic " brutality and urban violence . " Boyle has also stated that the chase in one of the opening scenes of '' Slumdog Millionaire '' was based on a " 12-minute police chase through the crowded Dharavi slum " in '' Black Friday '' ( 2007 ) , adapted from Hussein Zaidi 's book of the same name about the 1993 Bombay bombings
1993 Bombay bombings
1993 Bombay bombings
Slumdog Millionaire