Determined to make the rags-to-riches drama "Slumdog Millionaire" as authentic as possible, director Danny Boyle reworked his film's first act, casting Hindi-speaking children from Mumbai's slums in two lead roles. Now his choice to put the impoverished 7-year-olds into the film has sparked a growing controversy that is threatening to overtake the movie's global goodwill.
The dispute over the production's hiring of the children comes on the heels of "Slumdog Millionaire's" 10 nominations for this year's Academy Awards. The film, which recently collected the top prizes at award ceremonies for the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America, is considered a favorite to win the best picture Oscar.
Boyle, producer Christian Colson and the film's distributors issued a statement Wednesday disputing several media reports that "Slumdog Millionaire" took advantage of the children, who star in the film as the youngest Latika and Salim.
The film follows two orphaned brothers -- Salim and Jamal -- and their friend, Latika, over the early years of their lives. Each character is played by three different actors as they progress from childhood to their teens. The brothers clash not only over the girl, but also over what paths they should follow. The law-abiding Jamal, determined to reconnect with Latika, finds himself on India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," where his remarkable performance captivates the nation.
Articles in Britain's Daily Telegraph and India's Hindustan Times, quoting relatives of the actors, said Rubina Ali (the youngest Latika) and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (the youngest Salim) were both poorly compensated for their original, monthlong acting work and have not shared in the film's financial windfall; other media outlets and Internet sites either have repeated or linked to the allegations. The Telegraph article says Ali earned about $1,000, while Ismail was paid about $2,400. (According to a World Bank report last year, 75.6% of India's population lives on less than $2 a day.) Fox Searchlight, Boyle and Colson have declined to say what their actual compensation was.
The boy who played the youngest Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) comes from a middle-class family, and the older children in the film are also comparatively well-off, Fox Searchlight says.
