Even though Danny Boyle has built his career in film, making such revered pop-culture standbys as "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later," he's always found his joy in music.
So it's not much of a surprise that music inspires his latest, and perhaps greatest, work — the India-set drama "Slumdog Millionaire."
"It's weird, actually. I used to always have playlists. Now we all do, for the last five years, but I always used to have them, even before iTunes," Boyle said in a November phone interview. He was in Phoenix to promote the movie, which many have tabbed as a lock for a best-picture nomination.
"I like to create film sequences and set them to kind of collages of songs and give them to an editor at some point," Boyle said. "Sometimes I have them in mind while I'm shooting, sometimes not."
On his daughter's recommendation, Boyle started listening to British hip-hop artist Mathangi Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A.
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"I listened to her albums and loved them," Boyle said, noting a particular fascination with the song "Paper Planes," which he put into the film in an exuberant montage detailing the childhood glee of the protagonist.
The movie is about a young man from the slums of India who makes a breathtaking run through his country's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Because the contestant answers so many questions successfully, the show's host accuses him of cheating and has him arrested. Much of the film takes place in flashback as the boy describes the life experiences that taught him the trivia.
Boyle filmed on location in Mumbai. To help nail the feel of urban India, he elevated Loveleen Tandan from casting director to co-director.
"You can't just parachute in as a Westerner and say, 'Oh yeah, we can do this,' " Boyle said. "A director is arrogant enough anyway. You need to also be open (to help)."
Tandan, who wants to be a director, was instrumental in giving the film authenticity.
"The whole time we were shooting she wasn't frightened to tell me when I was wrong," Boyle said. "Whatever I needed, she was there the whole time, not just for help with the kids — those little kids don't speak much English — but to tell me when I was really wrong. Sometimes I would stay wrong with the logic to do justice to the film."
