Hope and wish this is true.... On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 8:28 AM, Vinod Raju <[email protected]> wrote:
> From Times Online > > January 29, 2009 > > 'Significant' part of Slumdog Millionaire profits will return to > slums > > Tim Teeman > An ambitious plan to pump "significant" profits from the film > Slumdog Millionaire back into the Mumbai slums where the film is set > has been revealed by Danny Boyle, the film's director. > > Boyle said investors, who are set to benefit from millions in box > office profits, were planning to meet in London next week to discuss > how much money to put into a special fund and how best to distribute > the cash. > > "We want to set it up as soon as possible. What absolutely mustn't > happen is that the money disappears, or people think this is a PR > stunt," Boyle said. > > Boyle and Christian Colson, one of Slumdog's producers, revealed the > plan after mounting criticism of the film's alleged financial > exploitation of its child stars and its portrayal of Indian slum > life. > > The multi-award winning and nominated film follows the occasionally > brutal rags-to-riches story of an Indian slum dweller. Boyle > insisted that the fund was not being set up in response to criticism > of the film. > > "This is our chance to give something back to an extraordinary city > which has helped us produce an extraordinary film. We came up with > it once we realised what a success the film was becoming after the > Golden Globes," he said. Slumdog won four Globes: best drama, best > director, best screenplay and best original score. > > The aim of the fund would be to help underprivileged children, Boyle > said. He would not be drawn on specific figures. The fund would > distribute money to projects in Mumbai and "perhaps" the rest of > India. > > The men strenuously denied claims carried in the press that the > children, who still live in shacks alongside Mumbai's railway, had > been exploited. Colson said Rubina Ali, who played the young Latika, > and Azharuddin Ismail, who played Salim, were paid "three times the > amount of an annual adult salary" for what amounted to a month's > work. > > A substantial lump sum (the men would not be specific) would be paid > to the children once they reached 18 and completed their > studies. "It's a carrot to encourage them to stay at school," Colson > said. > > The feverish media interest in the children has meant that they have > had to be removed from school in Mumbai and returned to their > original village homes, he added. > > Since the children began their education last June, at the film- > makers' expense, "the transformation of them has been eye-watering," > claimed Boyle, who added he was "determined to protect them from > anything that might distort or harm" their future opportunities. > > Colson said "a conscious decision not to shower" the children with > money from the movie had been made. "They would not be able > psychologically and practically to handle that," Colson said. "Our > plan is to ameliorate their lives." The men also responded to the > controversy over the film's title. > > "Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human > rights," claimed Tateshwar Vishwakarma, an Indian social activist, > who has called for effigies of Boyle to be burnt in protest. > > "Protest is a way of life in India," Boyle said. "It's an > extraordinary democracy. You just hope it won't become violent. My > concern is that it doesn't hurt the kids and that my own children > don't see anything like that. It's distressing." > > Boyle said the word "slumdog" wasn't intended as an insult. "It's > meant as `underdog', the romantic idea of a guy succeeding on his > own terms against all kinds of adversity. We tried to reflect as > much of the city as we could. It's a place of extremes. The feel- > good element comes from Mumbai having this extraordinary resilience > and effervescence of energy. Like New York, it's a city that grabs > you by the throat and says `Welcome'. I am proud of it." > > Colson said: "Whatever criticism is levelled against the film, we > made it in good faith." Boyle claimed he had no expectations of > Baftas or Oscars - quoting Benjamin Franklin's "In this world > nothing is certain but death or taxes" - but Slumdog remains a hot > awards favourite. Yesterday, at the Richard Attenborough Film > Awards, it won film of the year, director of the year and rising > star of the year for its lead male actor, Dev Patel. > > http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/fil > m/article5614162.ece > > > -- regards, Vithur
