'Slumdog' beats 'Jodhaa Akbar' to become highest grosser in US

Washington, Dec 6 (IANS) Danny Boyle's acclaimed hit 'Slumdog Millionaire' has reached $3.8 million at the North American box office, surpassing the $3.4 million of the Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai epic Jodhaa Akbar to become the highest grossing Indian movie of 2008.

The film set and shot in Mumbai has done this after only three weeks in theatres while playing in only 49 locations, Fox Searchlight said Friday.

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Released in February, Jodhaa Akbar played much wider in 125 theaters and earned its total gross over nine weeks.

'Slumdog Millionaire' will continue to open in more theatres nationwide throughout December and will see its box office gross continue to climb. Though financed in the UK, the film's setting, story, and characters are all Indian.

'Slumdog Millionaire' recounts the travails of an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who goes on to win a staggering 20 million rupees on India's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' game show and the process is nabbed by the police on suspicion of cheating.

'Slumdog Millionaire' added to its impressive list of industry accolades this week winning three British Independent Film Awards for Best Film, Best Director, and the Most Promising Newcomer prize for 18-year-old actor Dev Patel.

The song 'Paper Planes' by British Sri Lankan singer MIA, which is featured on the 'Slumdog Millionaire' soundtrack earned a prestigious Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year Dec 3.

And Thursday the film was named Best Picture of the Year by the National Board of Review which also honoured it in two other categories - Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor for Patel and Best Adapted Screenplay (tie) for Simon Beaufoy.