'Slumdog' kids ready for the Oscars

Even if they don't win an Oscar this is proving to be a real rag-to-riches story. I realy hope it does change the lives of these kids and its not just conned out of them by someone else. Also the film has great so I hope to see them all acting in the future. But then again since I don't get to see that many Bollywood productions I will probably never see them again. Oh well, Good Luck


Two of the child actors from hit film "Slumdog Millionaire" are expected on the red carpet at Sunday's Oscars, experiencing riches and glamour a world away from their lives in Mumbai's shantytowns.
But who wins a coveted golden statuette under the bright lights of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre is largely immaterial for Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who plays the young Salim, elder brother of the film's central character Jamal.

He has more pressing concerns. The city authorities recently razed his family's neighbourhood.

"My hope is that we'll be able to get a house to live in," the boisterous 10-year-old told AFP TV at the tarpaulin-covered lean-to he now calls home before leaving for the United States.

"Slumdog Millionaire" has captivated audiences around the world with its rags-to-riches tale of true love lost and found, sweeping the board at the Golden Globes and Britain's BAFTAs, and bagging 10 Oscar nominations.

But concerns have been expressed that Azharuddin -- Azhar to his friends -- and nine-year-old Rubina Ali, who plays the younger version of Jamal's love interest Latika, still live in poverty in the sprawling slums.

There have also been court petitions and protests about the use of the word "slumdog" for being derogatory to slum-dwellers, as well as criticism of Western portrayals of Indian poverty.

About half of Mumbai lives and works in the patchwork of communities of precariously-built brick houses, bamboo and corrugated iron-roofed huts, many without running water and surrounded by open sewers and garbage dumps.

"Slumdog" director Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson and others involved in the film insist that no offence was intended in the title and that they are providing for the two children.

Azhar and Rubina are currently attending an English-medium school for underprivileged children and a trust fund has been set up for them until they are 18. They also get a monthly stipend.

But the money Azhar earnt for filming has already gone to daily expenses, said his father, Mohammed Ismail Mohammed Usman, who sells cardboard to eke out a living.

"The only thing that happened was that I became well-known because of my son. That's it. Nothing else changed. My kid became a hero and I'm living like a zero. This is my shack," he said.

For India's film industry, Sunday's Oscars ceremony provides a chance to showcase the best of the country's talent, the chief executive of Fox Star Studios Vijay Singh told AFP.

It could also see the acclaimed composer A.R. Rahman, dubbed the "Mozart of Madras," become only the second Indian after filmmaker Satyajit Ray to win an Oscar.

Ray was given an honorary award just weeks before his death in 1992. Rahman is up for three awards in the best musical score and song categories.

Bollywood star Anil Kapoor, who plays the quizmaster in "Slumdog," said the British film with a cast of actors virtually unknown in the West was on a par with the 1982 epic "Gandhi," which won 11 Oscar nominations and eight awards.

"Sir Richard Attenborough did a great service to Mahatma Gandhi, his legacy and our country by making 'Gandhi.' But the kind of frenzy 'Slumdog' has evoked in the US is far bigger," he told the Hindustan Times daily Friday.

"It's like a tidal wave, a movement... almost historic."

For the winners, Oscar success brings fame and sometimes huge fortune. For Azhar, the stakes are much higher.

"Other people will see me in this film -- big, big people. If another good director sees me, then they may take me. This film will be very useful to me," he said.