Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson met with the families of the two impoverished child stars who’ve been evicted from their Mumbai Read the full post.
May 27
2009
02:54 PM ET
'Slumdog' dad storms out on Danny Boyle
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I saw an interview with the kids’ mother. When offered an apartment, her response was that her son is a star and should be given a house in the locality where all the stars live!!! That’s why it’s taking so long to get them out of a slum. I’ve lived in India all my life and after reading about the amount of money already given to these families, I assure you they could have easily got out of the slums and set their lives straight without any handouts. Unfortunately, all they are interested in is trying to milk the filmmakers for more money. Danny Boyle is being pretty decent about all this.If the parents had their children’s best interests at heart, they would stay wherever they can afford and send the kids off to a nice boarding school.
The Wisdom of Solomon is so eloquently reflected in the story of the two mothers.
In this story of a father – I think the “true” father would be more concerned that his child had food to eat and a decent education than that they all be living in a big house on “Millionaires’ Row”.
Vermontfudge -
You are mistaken about an actor “working for scale” in a small film ultimately profiting if it turns out the film is a box office success – unless that actor put it in his/her contract that they would receive a percentage of box office receipts. And, of course, only big stars get deals like that – and they wouldn’t have been working for “scale” in the first place.
If the families were so inclined, they could use this really good first item on an acting resume to parlay the experience the children got in their first film into other acting jobs in the future. That would mean pursuing a stream of revenue rather than a lump sum.
However, I would assume the parents are uneducated themselves – and used to living hand-to-mouth – they can’t see past tomorrow – and would rather go for the “bird in the hand” rather than the bird in the bush.
All this trouble they are making will only ensure no other directors want to work with them. Shortsighted in the longrun.
India’s class system gets in the way of rooting for the underdog or in this case the slumdog.