Prem's true colors, however, aren't revealed until the final act of the film. In a commercial break, during the second to last question, the host drops in on Jamal in the bathroom. After Jamal reveals that he doesn't know the answer to this challenging question, Prem assures him that he will win; "maybe it's written, my friend," he smiles. Of course, as we know, Prem writes the wrong answer in steam on the bathroom mirror. Thankfully Jamal sees right through the two-faced host.

At this point we understand Prem to be an enemy to Jamal, conspiring to stop our hero in his quest. Prem's identity as a truly scummy dude, though, is sealed when he gets Jamal arrested on suspicion of cheating, a last ditch effort to bring down Jamal. And when Jamal returns to the show after proving his innocence to the police, Prem has to pretend like nothing happened—he's been beaten at his own game by this young upstart from Mumbai.

Maman sees potential in Salim, recruiting him as a sort of trustee to help keep the other children in line. But Salim turns on him when he realizes that Maman has plans to blind his little bro. Salim is able to escape with Jamal, but Latika is left behind.

When we meet her, she is keeping her two boys in line, fearlessly snatching them away from the policemen chasing them, and sending them off to school. From this interaction, we can infer that she has her hands full, but wants them to get the most of their education.

Of course the brothers' idyllic childhood soon takes a turn for the worse after her death in the Bombay riots. Jamal and Salim are forced to go it alone, struggling to survive as orphans. However it's clear that before she died, she was able to raise two seriously tough boys, who, in their incredible strength and resolve, almost certainly take after their mama.

But as Jamal reveals more and more of his story, explaining how he came to know the answer to each question he was asked on the show, the Inspector begins to come around.

It doesn't take long for the Inspector to be humbled by Jamal; he soon discovers there are holes in his knowledge as a part of the middle class establishment, and his respect for Jamal as a slum resident grows. Eventually he's convinced that Jamal did not, in fact cheat, releasing his captive and returning him to the show for the final question.