With…· a production budget of $15 million
· a total domestic box office gross of $77,426,000 (a whopping $118,574,384 worldwide)
· and 10 Oscar nominations
…child actors Rubina Ali (young Latika) and Azharuddin Ismail (youngest Salim) are still living in the slums of Mumbai.
Director Danny Boyle comments:
“We thought long and hard about how best can we benefit them and we decided to put in place an education plan for them," Boyle said. "We put them in school, a very good school, which they're paid for to stay in until they're 18. If they stay in school until they're 18, a substantial sum of money is released to them then, which will effectively change their lives for the better," he added. Both children were found places in a local school and receive an estimated £20 per month for food and books; however, their families say that they have not received any details of trust funds set up in their names.
"The children were paid well," Boyle said. "The families were paid well for their work, over and above what you could pay." Ismail earned £1700 (approx. $2412) for one year’s work on the film, and Ali earned £500 (approx. $710), which is “three times the local adult salary”. The children’s parents have expressed to reporters that they feel they have been exploited and underpaid.
Pictured above: Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail embraces director Danny Boyle after a press conference in Mumbai, India on Tuesday January 20, 2009. Let's face it people, shouldn't this hug be payment enough?
Pictured below: Child actors Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail in shitty clothes at home in Mumbai while Danny Boyle is ballin' on the red carpet with Freida Pinto (eldest Latika), Madhur Mittal (eldest Salim), and Dev Patel (eldest Jamal).
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