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Slum kids head for Hollywood
Kiran Randhawa20 Feb 2009
SLUMDOG Millionaire's child stars are finally on their way to the Oscars.
Today one of them told of her excitement after initially being denied the chance to walk the red carpet at Sunday's ceremony.
Speaking as she set off from her home in the slums of Mumbai, Rubina Ali said she was looking forward to taking "a lot of pictures" when she gets to Hollywood.
The nine-year-old - who plays Latika, the character later played by Freida Pinto - is one of two child stars initially stopped by their parents from travelling to Los Angeles after they claimed the children were exploited and underpaid by the film-makers.
"I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars," Rubina said. "My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good."'
Rubina added: "I'm going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here." She will be joining her co-stars Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, who plays the lead character's brother Salim, and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who plays lead character Jamal, and the rest of the cast, including other child stars.
The rags-to-riches story, which has grossed £70million worldwide, has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Danny Boyle. All of the children are being flown to Los Angeles and put up in a five-star hotel for two days.
Azharuddin and Rubina were denied permission to attend the awards earlier this month by their parents after a clash over money.
Both are still living in squalor in Mumbai despite assurances from Boyle that they were paid well. Azharuddin's home, in the Behrampada shanty area, where rats crawl around in daylight and sewage runs untreated, is made of blankets and tarpaulins. His mother, Shameem, who will travel with him, is blind in one eye and his father Mohammed brings in 1,500 to 3,000 rupees (£20-£40) a month selling scrap wood. But he has tuberculosis and often cannot walk.
All the children received the same amount for 30 days of filming - the equivalent of a monthly salary payment for the production company's senior staff in Britain - but it has already gone. Boyle and Christian Colson, the producer, said they thought it would be irresponsible to pay the children large sums which might be taken by relatives or others, and resolved to ensure the children get a good education and then pay them a "substantial amount" when they reached 18.
Reader views (2)
Lauren, what the children got in this case is very good. Ask yourself how much they would have got if they starred in a Bollywood movie. I can tell you they would have got probably just their meals.
I have spoken to many fellow Indians about this and with my own experiences of my relatives in India the parents of these children would have been influenced to ask for ever more money. If these kids would have been given more money the parents would have still complained.
The thing is that people over there think the streets here are lined in gold.
I applaud the company for what they have done for these children. They are not responsible for the life of these children but they have assured them an education.
- Anon, London, 21/02/2009 15:36
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The first I read the children received 2y salary.
Considering the income of his parents (£40/m that makes £960).
Now they say it is a month income of a senior staff in the UK. And how much will that be then?
The fact that there is an obvious reluctance in disclosing how much the kids got paid let me believe that some shady deals took place.
The patronizing attitude in saying 'it would be irresponsible to pay the children large sums' shows exactly what the movie depict. Poor people are assumed stupid and incompetent with money. Haven't these producer heard about trust funds for underage. Haven't they worked with kids before?
While promising to pay them a 'substantial amount' in 10y time, seems to be ludicrous. Who will remember these kids in 10y. They have a good chance of being dead, if they carry on living in slums.
Extracting them from the slum for a 2 days display reminds me of the colonialists displaying American Indians to exhibition in Europe not that long ago. Although travel cost and 5 stars hotel, probably cost more than what the kids got paid.
More pictures taken!! Are they trying to raise money for the kids, because the £70M are already gone?
Are these productions companies the same one as the ones fighting file sharing because of their lost in revenue, saying that technicians and actors are the one suffering. This really show the hypocrisy and the evil attitude of Hollywood.
- Lauren, London Uk, 21/02/2009 13:56
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