Slum kids of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ awarded scholarships for free education

July 5th, 2009 'Slumdog' kid star to move into new home next weekMUMBAI, India — One of the impoverished child stars from "Slumdog Millionaire" will move from his shanty home in one of Mumbai's more wretched slums into a new apartment next week, his mother said Sunday. "On Friday we got the keys," said Shameem Ismail, the mother of child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who played the young Salim in the Oscar-winning hit.

June 10th, 2009 'Slumdog' child star gets new home in MumbaiMUMBAI, India — The makers of the hit movie "Slumdog Millionaire" have bought a new home for one of the two child stars discovered in Mumbai's slums. The purchase of a 250-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment for the family of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, was completed Monday, said Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee a trust set up by the filmmakers to help Azharuddin and his 9-year-old co-star Rubina Ali.

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 Home of 'Slumdog' star torn downMUMBAI, India — City workers demolishing part of a Mumbai slum on Thursday bulldozed the home of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep in his shanty when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave, he said.

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 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Over 500 children from slums here were treated to a special screening of the Oscar winning movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Coming out of the theatre, the kids said the story of Jamal, an orphaned and poor kid, who eventually becomes a millionaire overnight after winning a television quiz show, inspired them that they too should not take slum life for granted.

March 6th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Mumbai Congress will 'welcome' the two young stars from the Oscar winning 'Slumdog Millionaire', Azharuddin and Rubina, if they choose to campaign for the party during the Lok Sabha elections, a senior office-bearer said here Thursday. 'If they want to join us in the campaigning or support us like many other children, they shall be welcomed,' Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripa Shankar Singh told mediapersons this afternoon.

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 25th, 2009 MUMBAI - A day after the child actors Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Rafiq of 'Slumdog Millionaire' walked the red carpet and shot to fame, the Mumbai Congress has proposed to gift a flat each to them. Azharuddin Ismail Shaikh Usman and Rubina Rafiq Asghar Ali Qureshi, both residents of Garib Nagar slum in Bandra East, Mumbai, played the youngest version of the lead characters in the Oscar-winning film and were flown to the US for Hollywood's biggest awards ceremony Sunday.

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 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - 'Slumdog Millionaire', which has won as many as eight awards at the Oscars, was Monday granted entertainment tax exemption in Delhi, with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saying it had 'created history in the field of Indian cinema'. Dikshit expressed her pleasure over 'Slumdog Millionaire' - a film by British director Danny Boyle with India as its backdrop and at its heart - sweeping the 81st Academy Awards.

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.

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 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'.