Slumdog Slum Kid Loses His Home
Ugh. The story of the Slumdog Millionaire kids just keeps getting sadder. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who played Dev Patel's character as a little boy, just had his shanty house bulldozed by the government.
Officials in Mumbai say that Ismail's family house was demolished as part of a pre-monsoon season clean up effort, and that his family had no legitimate claim to the land. The family received no prior notice, and were awoken by the bulldozers, having only minutes to grab belongings and flee the premises.
Officials claim that those who lost homes to the demolitions will be relocated to government housing, though those places are usually far from the city center, making commuting to jobs extremely difficult. There is, of course, the trusts and housing that the producers of the movie set up for the kids, but it looks as though the positive effects of those efforts have yet to materialize.
So where things stand now: One of the child stars of a movie that won eight Academy Awards and has grossed over $300 million in ticket sales just had his shanty house razed by the government and his mother is forced to sit outside with a small plastic bag of her belongings saying "I don't know what I am going to do."
Yeah, I don't think anyone does.