Danny Boyle takes the Slumdog children out... as film bosses pledge to buy poverty-stricken families new homes



Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has taken time out of his busy post-Oscar schedule to spend some quality time with the young stars of his hit film.

A paternal looking Boyle accompanied youngsters Rubina Ali and Azhruddin Mohammed to Santa Monica Pier for a seaside day out of fun and games.

Rubina Ali clutched a handful of toys as she walked alongside a female chaperone. And Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was seen walking on the California beach.

Father Danny: A paternal looking Danny Boyle, director of hit film Slumdog Millionaire, enjoyed a day out at Santa Monica Pier with his young stars



Their trip comes the day after a fairytale visit to Disney World. And after it was revealed that the poverty stricken child stars of are now set to be property tycoons.

The youngsters have now been promised new homes by the film’s Oscar winning director Danny Boyle.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail feels the sand underneath his feet in Santa Monica



Boyle and producer Christian Colson told the Daily Mail that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali and their families will be moved to apartments worth £20,000 each in the coming months.

And in an astonishing turn of events, officials from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority - a Mumbai housing association - have now also said they want to gift the children a new flat each.

There was a public outcry after pictures emerged of the child stars still living in squalor, despite the fact the film had grossed £70million worldwide.

One showed ten year-old Azharuddin sleeping on a rotting makeshift mat - a bed he shared with his parents - while another featured him crouched down by rubbish, washing in dirty water.

The shack that Rubina, who plays the young heroine Letika, calls home is just yards from an open sewer.

Colson and Boyle told the Daily Mail the children and their families are looking at new apartments on the edge of the area where they live.

Boyle told the Daily Mail: ‘These are bricks and mortar flats. They will have electricity, running water and good sanitation.



'They will still be close to their friends and extended family.

'Their community is very important to them, and they don’t want to move too far away from them.

Boyle is now in the process of buying the families of his two young stars who live in slum dwellings new homes of their own



‘They have looked at a number of places but like anyone choosing a home, it is taking some time for them to agree on a final one.’

The film company has also agreed to pay for a rickshaw driver to take the children to and from school every day for the next eight years – to ensure they attend.

Last night, the MHADA said it too felt the child stars should be rewarded with a proper place to live.



The organisation’s chairman, Amarjeet Singh Manhas, said: 'These children have made the country proud and have an equal hand in the film winning the Oscar. These children are special and have won laurels for the country and we want to felicitate them.'

There was a public outcry after pictures emerged of the child stars still living in squalor, despite the £70million success of the film



They were unable to give details on the size and location of the flats and critics accused the authority of offering the free flats as a political move ahead of the general election in April/May.

Colson said that the offer from Mumbai officials was a separate one to the proposals he and Boyle had drawn up.

Rubina’s father Rafiq Qureshi said: ‘It means so much for us to get a proper flat. For three generations we have been living in this slum and we might finally get out of here. It is not a proper place to live and it is always under threat from demolition.’

Colson and Boyle have always denied any claim the children were exploited by Slumdog Millionaire.

After filming completed last year, they set up a raft of measures to safeguard their long-term future including a trust fund and sending them to a local school.

They now admit that the plans have not worked in the way they had hoped and more needs to be done to help the youngsters, who many feel are the real stars of Oscar-winning film.

Azharuddin, who plays the young version of the lead character’s brother Salim, and his parents live in flimsy structure made of tarpaulins and blankets in the overcrowded Behrampada shanty area.





Living it up: After their big night at the Oscars the young stars of Slumdog Millionaire met Mickey Mouse in Disneyland (Rubina and Azharuddin are front)

The family is worse off now than when Slumdog Millionaire was being filmed because the illegal hut they were living in has been demolished by the local council.

Colson told the Daily Mail: ‘The way Azharuddin is living now is substandard. We were told his home was razed a few months ago, and wired money over immediately.

‘The family gave that money to a broker, who promised to find them a new place to live, but has simply disappeared with the cash.’

‘We realized just sending money is not the answer and have evolved our plans over the past few weeks. The families are not equipped to cope with that sort of money.’

Producers will instead put the properties in a trust and ownership will only be released to the parents when the children turn 18.

‘We can’t buy the properties outright and give them to them, because in all honesty they will sell them,’ he said.

‘What we are doing is to acquire the flats for them, near the community where they fit in.



‘They will be held in trusts and ownership will only be released to the parents when the kids turn 18 and have completed their education,’ said Colson.





























Azharuddin and Rubina pose with Slumdog director Danny Boyle at the Oscars



The children’s parents had complained the children had not been paid enough considering the success of the Slumdog Millionaire.

Azharuddin’s mother Shameem Ismail is blind in one eye, while his father Mohammed suffers from tuberculosis, leaving the family a limited income.

Rubina’s father has not worked for months after breaking his leg in an accident.

Producers said they would work with an NGO to find a suitable social worker to liaise with the families to ensure the children’s wellbeing over the next few years.

Boyle said: ‘It is not about throwing cash at the problem – that doesn’t work. It is about investing in the long term. The key thing is to make sure they stay in school.

‘We want the kids to have more than wealth, we want them to have the skills that will set them up for life.’

Azharuddin's family are now worse off than they were when Slumdog was filmed following the demolition of their shack

Azharuddin and Rubina attend Aseema, a non-profit English language school for underprivileged children.

It is oversubscribed but many who attend need substantial help and guidance for even the most basic life skills.

Boyle added that he and the film’s investors and distributors were also setting up a fund for the slum and street children of Mumbai.

So far £500,000 has been set aside as an initial figure but this is expected to rise.

● Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of a boy born in the slums who answers all the questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? correctly because of his life experiences. It has become the unexpected hit of the year and scooped 8 Oscars including Best Motion Picture and a Best Director Oscar for Boyle.