So right after the Oscars, I questioned the fairness of paying peanuts to the youngest child actors in Slumdog Millionaire, as their performances were partly responsible for the film’s international success. And a lot of you made the fair point that it’s not up to producer Christian Coulson or director Danny Boyle to solve the world’s poverty problems.
But I think everyone can agree that it’s totally sucky how Coulson and Boyle promised those kids one-bedroom apartments in Mumbai and then never delivered:
Public promises of new homes, money and education have failed to materialise. No one from the production company has been to visit, nor have they bothered to phone.
Rubina and Azhar, who played the youngest Latika and Salim, are still living in the slums – a year after filming their critically acclaimed roles, they are resigned to the likelihood that they always will. If the children are disappointed, their parents are furious.
“We have been abandoned by Danny Boyle and his associates,” said Rafiq Qureshi, the father of Rubina. “He promised us a lot when the film won at the Oscars but since then no one has come to visit us.
“We’ve been given no money and no house. There is no trust fund that I’ve been told about. The monthly allowance promised to Rubina and Azhar stopped before they even went to the Oscars.
“I feel betrayed and hurt. All these promises came to nothing.”
Come the eff on. That damn movie has grossed $326,895,516 as of today, and the DVD just came out so don’t even tell me those jerks can’t afford to make good on their promises. Two one-bedroom apartments with running water isn’t exactly the moon and stars, people.
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Here we go; I wonder where are the Hollywood Activists right now? The fact that those KIDS have not yet been paid is scandalous at best.
I’ve never heard of anyone in Hollywood being a cheat, or a liar. Maybe Rafiq is the one one that can’t be trusted.
Wow! That’s ridiculous. What possible excuse could they have for not following through after so publicly promising those kids a home? Is there any way to blame Bush or global warming?
Those kids were paid, they just were paid a lot lower than everyone else. As for the father saying there is no trust that he knows about, maybe just maybe that is the point. They don’t want the parents trying to squeeze the trust dry.
That said, we are dealing with hollywood hypocrits. If it wasn’t it writing, it probably will never happen because the conversation where the promises were made “never” happened.
There are always two sides to every story. I would like to see these kids taken care of, as promised. Maybe there is a trust that was set up for them for when they get older? Who knows, but I think it is pretty crappy when all they want is a 1 bedroom apartment that is probably the same cost for a year as a 1 bedroom per month in Hollywood. For good PR purposes it is best for them to just pay up
While I agree its not their responsibility to solve the world’s poverty problems, at the very least it *is* their personal responsibility to act like decent human beings. I for one could not pluck two children out of impoverished hell and then just dump them back in there as if nothing had ever happened. Especially if exploiting their plight made me millions of dollars.
What happened to decency? Saying “Its not my responsibility” is just another way of saying “I don’t have to care, so I don’t.”
This is where a cynic would say “I told you so,” but I for one did not say a word about it before and besides, I have a soft spot for kids. I can’t exactly say “How dare they,” either, because as even the children know, promises are a lot cheaper than apartments. Mostly I just feel sad that the kids, who are what, all of ten years old? And already they know how the world works. No child should have to learn that young that most people are asses.
The movie may well have grossed $326M, but wait till the Hollywood accountants get to it. The accountants will say it may have grossed $326M, but it actually LOST money…so we can’t give the kids anything.
Kinda like Heather promising to buy the land mine victim her prosthetics. One the cameras are gone so are these people.
What???? Move the slumpuppies out before they get to experience the joys of cholera?
Base poverty builds character, folks!
Besides, these kids need to collect their own game show answers.
Can’t do that stuff from a swanky one bedroom on the cushy side of the open sewer…
Would Danny Boyle be considered “Hollywood”, him being Irish and all?
I am curious what the other side to that story is, and if there is something that we are missing. Even so, if those children were promised apartments, then they should have their apartments. There’s really no excuse to screw them over this way.
Nice. Not going to watch the movie until those kids get paid. Is there some protest for these kids so they at least get their money?
Solving the world’s problems isn’t Boyle’s bailiwick or anyone else’s in particular. That said, we each have a responsibility to do what we can, and ESPECIALLY to keep our promises, whether said promises were private or public. IF–and it’s still an “if”, here–they made these promises and really, truly haven’t kept them, they suck the Devil’s own hindmost teat. That is a sorry, lowdown thing to do.
Uck. My Georgia is showing.
I’m starting to wonder if maybe Deceiver should send e-mails to the people they are writing about. Just to poke them in the side and say, “Hey, this isn’t being ignored here.”
I’m sure some of them wouldn’t care, but maybe a couple of them would. x_X
Rescuing all the slum children can’t be done, you can’t change the world. But it’s in his power to help these two kids and not doing so doesn’t say good things about his humanity.
It won’t be the first time I piss a lot of people off with my opinion, but brutal honesty is my bag baby.
Are the Hollywood douches in the wrong here? You bet they are. But the people I’ve seen all over the web bitching about the situation are little better in one respect – how much effort would it take to say ’screw Hollywood, lets help these kids’? Fucking OCTOMOM has gotten more donations than these children have. I don’t know much about India, but I’m betting that it wouldn’t take all that much money to get these kids into livable housing over there.
Yes, I understand that the directors are being hypocritical because they promised things they aren’t delivering, and that the rest of us made no such promises. BUT if it really bothers people that much, why aren’t they putting together a charity drive of their own? My guess is because it makes people feel good to get all indignant, but it doesn’t bother them enough to actually open their wallet.
Scott — You’re absolutely right. Totally spot-on. So let’s do it. I’m not joking.
Five minutes ago, I registered a Paypal account to “Help the Slumdogs” — and I just put the first 50 dollars in. Anyone who wants to contribute should watch for an announcement on our home page soon.
And I’m counting on you to spread the word.
Holy crap, this is a pretty depressing story.
Keep the pressure on this douchebag. It’s one thing to pay someone what they agreed to for work. It’s an entirely different matter to pledge to help out another (especially children in this instance) and not come through.
Did you guys know that Azharuddin (Azhar in short) was abused by his father?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2279435.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News
Yeah, Nati, I was going to ask about the credibility of a guy who beat his little boy up in front of a crowd. Or at all.
I think what makes this so especially sucky is that those kids MADE that movie. I can’t believe the performances they turned in – and they are so young and basically inexperienced. They were compelling and very real — FAR FAR SUPERIOR to any of those Disney bazillionaires that are so adored by the tweens (yes, I’m talking to you Miley et al).
I’ll address this to OverSneer most particularly,(since you have a plan). First, Danny Boyle -to the best of my limited knowledge, entered into an agreement whereby he said he would put money in a blind trust for the children which would become available to them upon completion of their schooling at age 18. The amount was hidden. Petty jealousies are as dangerous and often lethal as depicted in the movie. Transportation to and from school was to be provided in keeping with the norms. That means,auto rickshaws,not limousines.Early on,there was already some debate as to how motivated the children were to attend school. Obviously,Danny Boyle couldn’t substantially improve their lives by throwing money at them. It doesn’t work. They were given a stipend,small but reasonable for India. Any more and you become a target or victim of others-former friends,relatives,neighbors,friends of neighbors,whoever doesn’t have what you have. In otherwords,the 1,000,000 living around them would see them as fair game till the situation was equalized. Father slaps son because he doesn’t want to do an interview ( what you call child abuse and what son is told is disrespect.)Before the Oscars,that same son threatened his mother with a brick, by the way,when she wouldn’t give him some of “his” money to treat his friends to candy bars. Hmmm. As for the apartments? The Indian Government had razed part of the slum,as they do every now and then to make some sector of society happy. These 2 children happen to have their hovels in those sections.The difference between slum and bare ground is really only a matter of maybe a tin roof and whatever is at hand for a 10×10 room with a piece of cloth for a door. Water is a communal pump. Toilets are NOT paid for. Get a coffee can filled with water. Go to the designated area,and maintain as much dignity as you can. The clothing is a help and a hindrance. India.And inside? A dirt floor,MAYBE a charpoy,a plastic bucket,a tawa,cooking pot,minimal food supplies,flour,rice,chilies,tea,oil,some spice and a clothes change.Small shops are no further than a block for those daily purchases like yogurt or milk or extra chillies or bindis or nail polish,alpana,kohl,even necklaces and bangles.If you must admire someone,admire the Indian shopkeeper.
The Indian Government,then,was shamed into promising to give the 2 children new reasonable apartments.Lest you have forgotten, Danny Boyle’s casting director hired these children. He did not adopt them. If you move them and their families out of the slum,they will miss their old surroundings. Home is home. They will also be rejected by upscale people. The children may be cute but the caste system is alive and well in India. Believe it. Color,caste,money,class,all extremely important in India. Bride burning for more dowery (even though there IS no dowery) and widow burning especially in rural Rajasthan-still exists,even if the perpetrators own cell phones.
So by all means,give money to the children. There were more than 2 you know. 9 children played the main characters and 2 of those were from the slums but don’t forget the blind boy and one or two others who figured even less prominently. Give them money. But tie strings to it so their loved ones don’t feel tempted.And while you’re feeling generous,remember that as of last summer,this movie couldn’t find a distributer and was going straight to video. In which case this argument would have been moot. Anil Kapoor,by the way,who played the host,gave his salary to a children’s charity. All these “deals” were made long before the movie became Oscar worthy. Back then,it was just 100 degrees in the shade and a wee bit annoying. As Boyle has stated,he did his best,but he didn’t mean to take the children on as career move.
I hope this clarifies some points. I’m not a know-it-all. I love the movie.I didn’t expect to like it because of the hype. I’ve seen a lot of Bollywood films, most of them mediocre,some of them dreadful,and a few of them actually very watchable and even brilliant. This is all that and more.
Beige, unfortunately, in some countries child abuse is not even considered a crime, there’s no punishment for it. People are more surprised when someone doesn’t beat their children than when they do. There’s very little that can be done in a situation like this in a country where beating your child is not a crime. And considering that the orphanages in such countries are the hell on earth, even if the child is removed from an abusive household, that doesn’t always guarantee that his life and living conditions are going to be improved. Actually, kids in those countries are much better off with their abusive parents than they would be in an orphanage. This is just heartbreaking, that is not the way a child should be treated. And it must be especially hard to be thrust back into those slums and to be abused by that pathetic excuse for a human being after having been exposed to another, better life and better living conditions. When this kinda life and abuse is all you know it’s somewhat easier to put up with it than when you have seen a different side of life…I am still going to donate, because I think that if we do donate, at least there will be a chance that this kid’s and other children’s lives and living conditions will improve. I’m hoping there’s a way to make sure that it’s the children that benefit from this money, not their parents. There’s just no telling what someone like Azhar’s father might do, I woudln’t put it past someone like that to just take the money and misuse it or abandon the family. I’d hate to see these children being exploited and left with nothing (yet again).