Slum children in Kolkata inspired after watching ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar, on Monday felicitated artistes of Oscar winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' before the movie was screened for the lawmakers. A special screening of the movie was held for members of both the houses.

May 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The street kids of New Delhi had a rendezvous with Oscar winning sound mixer of 'Slumdog Millionaire' Resul Pookutty here last evening. Continuing his association with the rags to riches Oscar winning flick, Resul interacted with the homeless kids as part of the initiative of a self-help group 'Butterflies India', working for the cause of street children.

May 14th, 2009 MUMBAI - Nearly 20 children who acted in the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire", including Azharuddin Ismail, got a shock when civic authorities on Thursday demolished the polythene sheet-covered roof which used to house them in Garib Nagar slum area of Mumbai. Ismail shot to fame after his role as Salim, the young role of the movie's central character.

April 30th, 2009 MUMBAI - Away from the spotlight, the parents of over a dozen slum children who acted in the Oscar winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire' cast their votes here Thursday. But the mother and father of media darling Azharuddin Ismail Shaikh found their names missing from the electoral rolls yet again.

April 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The producers of multiple Oscar-winning movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' are hoping to change the lives of children living in Mumbai slums with a $744,000 programme aimed at providing healthcare and education to these kids. 'Slumdog Millionaire is a film which epitomises the positive spirit of children and the film's success is an inspiration and a way forward to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children of Mumbai,' said actor Anil Kapoor in a statement.

March 20th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australian TV bosses are hoping to cash in on the success of the Oscar-winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire' with a revamped version of the quiz show 'Who wants to be a Millioniare'. The rags-to-riches tale of a Mumbai slum boy, who wins the jackpot in the Indian version of the quiz show, has won eight Oscars and raked in 150 million pounds worldwide.

February 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government Wednesday exempted India-themed film 'Slumdog Millionaire', which has won eight Oscar awards, from entertainment tax in the state for one year. 'The film 'Slumdog Millionaire' has been made tax free with immediate effect in the state for a period of one year by the commercial taxes department on the instructions of Chief Minister Raman Singh,' said an official statement issued here.

February 25th, 2009 MUMBAI - 'Slumdog Millionaire' child actors Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Rafiq can now leave the squalor of their slum homes, courtesy the Maharashtra government which Tuesday night announced that both would be given a flat each. Azharuddin Ismail Shaikh Usman and Rubina Rafiq Asghar Ali Qureshi are residents of Garib Nagar slum in Bandra East, Mumbai.

February 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Azharuddin Ismail Shaikh Usman, the Mumbai slum boy who has now become an international celebrity, may not have landed his plum role in 'Slumdog Millionaire' and a good deal of money in the bank but for a happy coincidence, says his agent. Zainul Abdeen Khan, his agent, says he had taken around 35 children in the required age group for an audition with the production crew of the movie, which Monday bagged eight Oscars - a ceremony attended by 10-year-old Azharuddin.

February 23rd, 2009 PATNA - Hundreds of slum dwellers here Sunday burned effigies of Danny Boyle, the director of Oscar-nominated film 'Slumdog Millionaire', demanding the filmmaker drop the word 'dog' from the title. 'Slum dwellers burnt effigies of Danny Boyle and others, at Kamla Nehru slum to show their protest against 'Slumdog Millionaire',' Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, representing a slum dwellers welfare group, told IANS here.

February 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The following is the list of Indians who have won an Oscar over the years: 1. Bhanu Athaiya - Best Costume Design for Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' in 1982 2.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the hype and global applause that Danny Boyle's multiple award-winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' has garnered, the film has failed to surpass the box office collections of Bollywood thriller 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues', which released on the same day. While Oscar nominated 'Slumdog Millionaire', which is about a rags-to-riches story of a slum dweller, grossed Rs.135 million, 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues', starring Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut raked in Rs.210 million within the first four days of their release.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Slumdog Millionaire, which has won 10 Oscar nominations and is a story about a slum kid in Mumbai hitting the jackpot, portrays the harsh realities plaguing India and does not glamourise poverty like some people think, say NGOs. Shirin Vakil Miller, the India director of the NGO Save the Children, which works for slum children said the movie is a reflection of the ground realities challenging millions of Indian children each day.

January 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Simon Beaufoy, the screenplay writer of Danny Boyle's Golden Globe winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' Wednesday said the title of the film was only a 'metaphor'. 'There was absolutely no sense I wanted to insult anybody.

January 8th, 2009 MUMBAI - Danny Boyle's internationally applauded 'Slumdog Millionaire' will have an odd-sounding title for its Hindi dubbed version - 'Slumdog Crorepati'. The intended Hindi title 'Slumdog Millionaire: Kaun Banega Crorepati' was shortened, thanks to copyright issues by the producers of the international game show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'.