Why was Slumdog Millonaire made?

Slumdog Millionaire is based around the orphans in the slums of Mumbai, India, and focuses on the life of a boy called Jamal  Malik in particular. It tells the story of his tragic, yet sometimes uplifting life. The film is based on the book ‘Q & A’ by Vikas Swarup. Although the film follows Jamal’s  experience on the famous TV show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”, it is actually centered around a unique love story, which we eventually find out is the reason why he is on the show in the first place. In an interview, Director Danny Boyle explains why they chose to center the film around telling the life story of a young orphan instead of the iconic TV show: "...So that became the star of the show for me, is not the show itself, not the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, but the city and this love story set in the city. And that was what was clever about what Simon Beaufoy did, is that he created this love story. Because in the book the spine of the story is the show, whereas in this it’s really the love story because that's his real agenda. It’s not the show; it’s his lost love, really."