Slumdog Kid Gets Out of Slum

Canada

Slumdog Kid Gets Out of Slum

Wed., Jun. 10, 2009 7:05 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Danny Boyle, Rubina Ali, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail

AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade

That makes one less real-life slumdog for the young cast of Slumdog Millionaire.

Filmmakers this week began to make good on their much-publicized pledge to purchase homes for the child actors who appeared in the Oscar-winning film, buying a one-bedroom Mumbai apartment for the family of 10-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail.

The house hunt was ramped up in recent weeks after the illegal shacks of both Ismail and 9-year-old costar Rubina Ali's family were bulldozed over in a government sweep of their slums.

The deal was completed earlier this week as the Jai Ho Trust, set up by director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson with the purpose of educating and housing the young stars, provided the $50,000 to purchase the home.

"We signed the papers on Monday," a spokesman for the trust said. "We have the keys and we will hand them to the family."

The 250-square-foot apartment, located in a suburb north of Mumbai, will be transferred from the trust and put in Ismail's name when he turns 18, with the caveat that the property will only be handed over if he completes his schooling.

Incidentally, this is the second home purchased for Ismail's family in recent weeks. The government's Maharashtra Housing Authority Development Agency recently purchased a slightly smaller 180-square-foot apartment for the boy's family in the Malvani district of Mumbai.

A spokesman for the Jai Ho Trust said that the family was welcome to keep both apartments, though a government official said that the state-provided housing, which both actors' families complained were too far away from the children's schools, will likely be canceled.

The trust is still searching for a home for Ali.

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