Comments on: Slumdog Millionaire child stars will attend Oscars, still live in slums

By: vivian

vivian — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:14:45 +0000

I hope someone help the little girl and and her family to, please help them get out of the slams, God bless then all.

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By: vivian

vivian — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:13:02 +0000

I love this little boy will some one help him and his family, May God bless them

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By: Car Reviews 52551

Car Reviews 52551 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:25:59 +0000

The most interesting fact that today, i see same article:).
Although I do not remember there may be a link to the source,
but probably not – but your site look solid.

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By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:48:32 +0000

i think the children were a big part of the movie… in many ways, they made the movie… they were onscreen more often and had some of the more physically and emotionally challenging roles… granted, the beginning budget was small… but obviously, they did a good job and the movie has made tons of money so they should be conpensated accordingly… the right thing to do would be to give these kids enough money to get them out of the slums… the kids were awesome, they did their job well… this isn’t charity… just fair compensation

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By: Annie

Annie — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:03:42 +0000

I admit to not having read all the comments, so if I’m repeating something, my apologies.

But as I understand the situation, he did this to protect the kids. Like a place in Mumbai, you get outed as having any kind of anything, you’re going to have a lot of trouble on your hands. I think the producer did what he did to protect the children.

You’re in a slum, but you have several thousand dollars? I see kidnappings, death threats, all sorts of shit. People do anything for money.

And those who don’t have it, often are the worse about it. It’s like the lotto winners who end up going into drugs and bankrupt and debt-ridden.

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By: Xihix

Xihix — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:47:20 +0000

What can they do? They’ve done everything they can. They paid them pretty well for child actors for 30 days of work, set up trust funds after they finish school, given them health care and monthly money, and send them to school everyday. You can’t just toss people living in slums hundreds of thousands of dollars. You’d have to be a flipping idiot.

Plus, think of it this way. If they hadn’t brought the kids, people would be all over their case for not bringing the kids. And now that they do, they go all over their case that they did bring them here. You just can’t satisfy people, can you?

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By: Des

Des — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:34:29 +0000

The “many” who think its modern day colonialism have good intentions but they have no idea what they’re talking about.

Putting the money in a trust is the safest course of action because it means the kids will have the money guaranteed – the little boy’s father who gave the interviews about how they were all paid a pittance was paid money to buy a home of their own… and blew it all on booze. They’re poor but they’re human too – they have their shortcomings just like rich people.

When Mira Nair made Salaam Bombay, she also created trusts for the kids – she didn’t hand the money over. And once the kids reach majority, they can withdraw it themselves, by which time they’ll hopefully have an education and be able to move ahead in their lives.

And as shocking as it might be to you, there are a lot of families in that area who CHOOSE to live where they live – read Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. And the oped in yesterday’s NY Times about people objecting to terms like Slum for where they live and why.

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By: kiratki

kiratki — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:32:31 +0000

I agree with many of the comments on this site. The Dhaaravi slum is the biggest in the world…around 2 million people, I believe. This includes a conglomeration of tin shacks, plastic sheets/tarps, or wooden rooms. It is dirty and crowded and finding running water and/or approriate sanitation is difficult. There are many NGOs that work there (not enough, obviously) running schools and health care centers. I hope people who see the movie and are inspired by it do take some time to check out responsible NGOs (use charitynavigator.org…I think they’re pretty good informants) and donate your time or money. I think shipping little kids away from their families and dumping them back into their same conditions is cruel and clearly the brainchild of some LA PR firm. I think the wages ($3000 is about 2 or 3 year’s salary for menial workers) at the time may or may not been fair…I don’t know the budget. But I think the way they compensated the kids–guaranteed education and a house for the family only after the kid finishes school–is fair. Otherwise there is tremendous pressure on the family to give the money away to the community and other relatives. And promising a house only after the girls are 18 and finish school means they won’t be married off at a young age (and the money given as dowry in exchange for a better quality husband). With regard to the Indian government…if you think our political system is dysfunctional, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Our current political parties are hugging each other and singing kumbaya compared to the corruption, obstruction, and destruction of Indian politics. I know at one point severl years ago they did build several thousand apartments for slumdwellers and gave thousands of family a new place to live…but when they tried to raze that part of the slums there was a big protest and they couldn’t do it. Many families did move, but others stayed int eh slums and rented out the apartments for extra cash.

As for some of the other scenes in the movie, I think they were soft-soaping how bad it really is (I’m Indian and my Mom’s from Bombay). Blinding some little kids to make him a more sympathetic beggar is awful, but I’ve seen other kids with mangled limbs and far worse deformities visited on them by the beggar-masters. Sometimes ignorant people give their kids away to these people thinking they’ll have a better life (and their other children are starving, so they can’t afford them). Others just sell their kids or orphans from the village. Little girls from all over India and Nepal are routinely put to work in the sex trade. I hope that if you’re shocked by what you saw in the movie, you’ll do a google search on child trafficking and sex slavery in India.

I know I’ve been rambling on and on, but I think things like this make us appreciate what we have, even the ability to read a gossip website in the comfort of our chairs. I hope if you guys get a chance you’ll donate a little money to a good NGO and maybe even take a closer look around in your own neighborhood and see what little things we can all do to make our community a little better.

…ok, back to octomom and the Aniston-Jolie oscar showdown…

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By: Baholicious

Baholicious — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:45:06 +0000

I agree Geronimo, it is entirely the Indian responsibility, I just meant the government isn’t blind to the issue. I don’t envy Boyle’s position at all. He’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

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By: geronimo

geronimo — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:23:07 +0000

Baho – I accept that, but it’s still all part and parcel of the ‘Indian’ responsibility. My point it that Boyle should not be a whipping boy here. (I love that film too.)

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