London
(ANI):
Poor
parents
of
Slumdog
Millionaire
stars
have
accused
the
film's
producers
of
exploiting
their
children.
They
claim
that
the
eight-year-olds
were
poorly
paid
for
working
in
the
film
that
has
won
four
Golden
Globes,
and
has
been
nominated
for
10
Oscars.
According
to
them,
Azhauddin
Ismail
and
Rubina
Ali
were
paid
less
than
many
domestic
servants.
While
Rubina
is
said
to
have
been
paid
just
500
pounds
for
a
year's
work,
Azharuddin
received
1,700
pounds.
Fox
Searchlight,
the
film's
American
distributors,
disputed
this
by
saying
the
fees
were
more
than
three
times
the
average
annual
salary
an
adult
in
their
neighbourhood
would
receive.
"The
welfare
of
Azhar
and
Rubnia
has
always
been
a
top
priority
for
everyone
involved
with
Slumdog
Millionaire," the
Telegraph
quoted
a
spokesman
as
saying.
He,
however,
would
not
disclose
the
actual
sum
paid
to
the
children.
While
British
director
Danny
Boyle
has
spoken
of
how
he
set
up
trust
funds
for
Rubina
and
Azharuddin
and
paid
for
their
education,
their
families
say
that
they
have
received
no
details
of
the
trust
funds
set
up
in
their
names.
The
parents
say
that
they
hoped
the
film
would
be
their
ticket
out
of
the
slums,
but
both
kids
continue
to
live
in
grinding
poverty.
Their
parents
say
that
the
film's
success
made
them
realise
how
little
their
children
had
been
paid.
Rubina
and
Azharuddin
live
a
few
hundreds
yards
from
each
other
in
a
tangle
of
makeshift
shacks
alongside
Mumbai's
railway
tracks
at
Bandra.
The
illegal
hut
Azharuddin's
family
resided
in
has
been
demolished
by
the
local
authorities,
and
he
currently
sleeps
under
a
sheet
of
plastic
tarpaulin
with
his
father,
who
suffers
from
tuberculosis.
"There
is
none
of
the
money
left.
It
was
all
spent
on
medicines
to
help
me
fight
TB.
We
feel
that
the
kids
have
been
left
behind
by
the
film.
They
have
told
us
there
is
a
trust
fund
but
we
know
nothing
about
it
and
have
no
guarantees,"
Azharuddin's
father,
Mohammed
Ismail,
said.
Rubina's
father,
Rafiq
Ali
Kureshi,
a
carpenter
by
profession,
broke
his
leg
during
filming
and
has
been
out
of
work
since.
"I
am
very
happy
the
movie
is
doing
so
well,
but
it
is
making
so
much
money
and
so
much
fame
and
the
money
they
paid
us
is
nothing.
They
should
pay
more.
I
have
no
regrets.
I
just
had
no
knowledge
of
what
she
should
have
been
paid,"
he
said.
Boyle
and
the
film's
producer
Christian
Colson
defended
their
arrangements
for
the
children.
"(We
have)
paid
painstaking
and
considered
attention
to
how
Azhar
and
Rubina's
involvement
in
the
film
could
be
of
lasting
benefit
to
them
over
and
above
the
payment
they
received
for
their
work,"
they
said
in
a
written
statement.
The
statement
added:
"The
children
had
never
attended
school,
and
in
consultation
with
their
parents
we
agreed
that
this
would
be
our
priority.
Since
June
2008
and
at
our
expense,
both
kids
have
been
attending
school
and
they
are
flourishing
under
the
tutelage
of
their
dedicated
and
committed
teachers.
Financial
resources
have
been
made
available
for
their
education
until
they
are
18.
We
were
delighted
to
see
them
progressing
well
when
we
visited
their
school
and
met
with
their
teachers
last
week."
It
further
said
that
a
"substantial
lump
sum"
would
be
paid
to
the
children
on
completion
of
their
studies.