Slumdog Makers Say Kids Weren't Exploited

Family had lived there 15 years

(NEWSER) - Mumbai officials tore down the home of Slumdog Millionaire child star Azharuddin Ismail, calling the slum dwelling illegal construction. Ismail’s mother says the family lived there 15 years before police arrived unannounced. “We didn’t even get a chance to remove our belongings,” she tells the Telegraph. The government had promised them a new home after Ismail returned from the Oscars a hero. More»

Rumors part of a 'dirty' media scheme, he says

(NEWSER) - The father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali tells the BBC he’s not selling his daughter, contrary to a News of the World report he called a “dirty” scheme. The media “made fun of our poverty,” Rafiq Qureshi said. “They tricked us into this fakery but we came out unscathed.” He said he’d been placed in a spot of “great temptation,” but hadn’t made any such deal. More»

Child actors receive heroes' welcome in Mumbai

(NEWSER) - No more red carpet: The two child stars of Slumdog Millionaire have returned from Hollywood to their now-infamous Mumbai slum, CNN reports. The pair, excited from the trip but exhausted from the media attention, were greeted by enthusiastic crowds. Rubina Ali, 9, says she has heard rumors of new homes from the government, but she and Azharuddin Ismail are back in their shantytown for the time being. More»

(NEWSER) - Children broke into Bollywood dance numbers in the narrow lanes of a teeming Mumbai slum today, as they gathered to watch Slumdog Millionaire's domination of the Oscars. Two of Slumdog's child actors, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, hail from this desperately poor neighborhood, and their every appearance elicited squeals of joy from the crowd. "My eyes couldn't believe that I was seeing Rubina in America," said one friend. More»

Fairy-tale film's take on 'real India' has 'conveniently fluid notion of reality'

(NEWSER) - Slumdog Millionaire wants to be a portrait of the “real India” and a fairy tale at the same time, but director Danny Boyle’s combination is “dissonant to the point of incoherence,” writes Dennis Lim in Slate. It portrays life in the slums in brilliant color, and “some would argue that Boyle is guilty of aestheticizing poverty.” More»