'Slumdog' Child Actors' Real Lives Imitating Art
"Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle poses with the film's child stars Rubina Ali, 9, right, and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, left at a press conference in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2009. AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade hide caption
Life continues to imitate art in the case of the "Slumdog Millionaire" child actors who hail from a Mumbai slum.
When we last heard about them, Rubini Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail's homes had been demolished in the Indian government's pre-monsoon demolition drive meant to get rid of illegal shanties.
Today, the film's director, Danny Boyle, met with the children and promised them new houses and more. But there was drama worthy of the movie.
As the Associated Press reports:
MUMBAI, India (AP) - The makers of "Slumdog Millionaire" have met in India with the film's two impoverished child stars -- at least, until the father of one child stormed out in anger.
Relations have grown tense between the filmmakers and the children's families since the movie's phenomenal success. It's grossed more than $326 million and earned eight Academy Awards. Meanwhile, the film's nine- and 10-year-old stars have continued living in their Mumbai
slum homes, until they lost those homes earlier this month.
Director Danny Boyle says he and his producer have been trying to move the families to better homes "for a long time."
But Rubina Ali's father rejects that argument, saying they could move the children "in two days" if they wanted.
The filmmakers say they've set up a trust to ensure the children get proper homes, education, and a nest egg when they finish high school. They're also pledging to spend up to $100,000 to buy the families new apartments, and donating nearly $750,000 to a charity to help slum children across Mumbai.
A documentary about what's happened to these kids since the movie could be as riveting as the film itself.