Slumdog Millionaire
The story of the two childhood sweethearts, their separation and their getting together again, is hopeful and endearing. As the film follows Jamal's life and the difficulties that he has to go through, our hearts wrench with him when Latika is left behind, and rejoice with him when he finds Latika again, wrench again when the are separated again, and so on. The casting choice is wonderful. According to an interview, the producer decided to cast the child, middle and grown actors with the same spirit instead of the same looks. This connects all the three different stages' actors into one united character of the innocent Jamal, lovely Latika, and streetsmart/punkish Salim. The kids are all very cute, to top it off. Towards the end, in true-blue Bollywood style, a crowd of people from the trains gather and dances. The only reason that makes this sequence non-cheesy and even beautiful is shots of Jamal and Latika as children dancing spiritedly in the same location - a reminder of this childhood sweetheart love story.
Overall, I think it deserved the 8 awards it won at the Oscar. Even Jai-Ho is an impressionable and lively soundtrack. Hollywood is not often graced by pure and innocent love stories.
Edit: I forgot to add that, the bond between the two brothers is touching, especially the elder to the younger, despite his betrayal in the middle.