Trust set up for slumdwellers:

‘Slumdog’ child stars to get new homes

INDIA: Two child actors from the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” are to get permanent homes after their shantytown dwellings were demolished, officials said Wednesday.

They said “Slumdog” director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson, who set up a trust for the slumdwellers, Wednesday asked officials of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) who manage the trust to fund the new homes.

Earlier this month, the ramshackle homes of nine-year-old Rubina Ali and 11-year-old Azharuddin Ismail at the Gareeb Nagar slum in central Mumbai were demolished as part of a drive by the civic authorities to get rid of illegal slum dwellings

Rubina played Latika, the key female character in the hit film, and co-star Azharuddin played the elder brother of the film’s central character, Jamal.

“We have bought a new home for Azharuddin and the details are being finalised for Rubina’s home,” TISS director S. Parasuraman told AFP.

Parasuraman did not disclose the cost of the two houses.

“Both their homes will be near their schools,” he said. “We have deposited substantial funds in banks through the trust which will support them financially,” he added.

More than half of Mumbai’s estimated 18 million residents live in either designated slums or in illegal shantytowns.

“Slumdog Millionaire,” a feel-good drama about a Mumbai tea boy who rises from poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and find the love of his life, won eight Oscars. MUMBAI, Thursday, AFP