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| Slumdog Millionaire children go to the Oscars By Anita Singh, 20 February, 2009 | |
 Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali, nine, whose poverty-stricken lives mirror those of the characters they play, left their Mumbai slum yesterday for the bright lights of Hollywood. Together with their co-star, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, they travelled to Los Angeles on their first ever aeroplane journey.On Sunday night they will mingle with the stars on the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre, where the rags-to-riches tale is expected to triumph. It has 10 nominations and is favourite to win both the coveted best picture award and best director for Danny Boyle. It had been thought they would miss the ceremony, as the families did not have passports and the Indian bureaucratic machine is notoriously slow, but studio Fox Searchlight secured the travel arrangements. "I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars. My friends are saying, 'Your fate is so good,'" said Rubina, who was accompanied by her uncle. "I'm not scared. I'm going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here." She planned to buy a party dress in Los Angeles for the ceremony. Azharuddin travelled with his mother. His father, Mohammed Ismail, said he felt "very, very good" that his son could making the trip. They will stay in a five-star hotel for the duration of their trip, and the contrast with their everyday lives could not be greater. While Ayush comes from a middle class home, his two young friends live in one of Mumbai's most squalid slums. Their parents initially accused the film's producers of underpaying the children, something which the studio firmly denied. All nine actors who play the characters in there stages of their lives will attend the Oscars, including Dev Patel and Freida Pinto. Ayush and Rubina play the young Jamal and Latika, while Azharuddin appears as Jamal's brother, Salim. A Fox Searchlight spokesman said: "Everybody is really excited about it. It's nice the whole gang will be together." https://filmicafe.com/news_detail.php?news_id=9732 | |
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