"Slumdog" Kids Finally Get New Digs

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

30 May 2009 10:31 AM

After living on the streets for the past few weeks Slumdog Millionaire's child stars Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali now have a new dilemma on their hands-deciding which new home to live in.

According to reports, Slumdog director Danny Boyle got fed up with hearing about how poorly his young stars' were being treated by the Indian government, so he flew to Mumbai this week and purchased new apartments for them.

Shortly after Slumdog won the 2009 Oscar for best film, Boyle established the Jai Ho Trust to help fund 10-year-old Ismail and 9-year-old Ali's education. However the generous scholarship did nothing to help the children when they were forcefully removed from their government-owned shacks and forced to live on the streets of India by local officials.

The young movie stars' plight made headlines around the world, and prompted Boyle to travel to Mumbai earlier this week. The award-winning director revealed that he bought Ismail and his family a new apartment and plans to do the same for Ali by the end of the month.

Coincidentally (or so they would like the world to think), the day after Boyle forked over money to purchase Ismail's new home, India's chief minister, Congress party member Ashok Chavan, announced that both stars' families have been given new homes, which will be ready in a few days.

A statement from Chavan reads, "The regional head of the Congress party said these two child actors were talented but were living in the slums and therefore should be given homes."

Oh, spare us!

Those kids and their families have been living on the streets for weeks, and in that time they say that no one from the Indian government once assisted them in finding a new place to live, despite repeated pleas for shelter.

I have no clue how Indian officials run their country, but if I had to choose between living in a home provided by the government or an apartment paid for by a wealthy movie director, I wouldn't hesitate to opt for the latter.

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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