Feb 20, 2009–The children who appeared in “Slumdog Millionaire” will attend the Oscar Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday. Director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches story set and shot in the slums of Mumbai has been nominated for 10 Oscar awards, including best picture and best director. “The kids are on their way to the Oscars! Everyone is very excited!” Boyle said.
All nine actors who play the three main characters in three stages of their lives will attend the Oscars, Fox Searchlight, which released the picture, said. They include actors comfortable on the red carpet, like Dev Patel, 18, who lives in London, and Freida Pinto, 24, who's becoming a new style icon.
Also attending will be Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali, 9, who were plucked from their homes in a Mumbai slum by Boyle and his team. The trip will be their first on an airplane and their first out of the country, relatives said.
It was not easy to get visas, passports and tickets for Azharuddin and Rubina, whose parents didn't decide until the last minute if they wanted their kids to attend the ceremony.
“I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars,” Rubina said in her home Friday, hours before she was to leave for the U.S.. “My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good.'” “I'm not scared,” added the girl, who will be traveling with her uncle. “I'm going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here.” Azharuddin's father, Mohammed Ismail, said he felt “very good” that his son could make the trip, traveling with his mother.