From poverty to pomp: Slumdog cast to grace Oscars

Feb 20, 2009, 16:54 GMT

\'Slumdog Millionaire\' child actor Mohammad Azharuddin Ismail intside his shanty at a slum in Mumbai, India, 20 February 2009. Mohammed and his co-star Rubina Ali are to fly to the US later day to attend the Academy Award ceremony in Los Angeles on 22 February. British director Danny Boyle\'s film \'Slumdog Millionaire\', the rags-to-riches tale of a Mumbai tea boy who wins big, is nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. EPA/STR

Los Angeles - All the leading actors of Slumdog Millionaire - including the two impoverished children who had a central role in the movie - will attend the Oscars Sunday and take the stage to accept the award if the movie wins the best picture prize, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

The decision was taken at the last minute after the film's producers and director Danny Boyle had earlier worried that taking the kids to the Hollywood glitter-fest might further complicate the lives of the two children cast from Mumbai's slums.

The two young Indian stars in question are Rubina Ali, who plays the film's childhood version of the female lead, Latika, and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who plays the childhood role of Salim, the corrupt older brother of the star of the movie, Jammal.

The film's other actors in the movie are middle- and upper-class residents of either India or England, including Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who plays Latika's childhood friend Jammal, the boy who grows up, wows India with his performance on a big-bucks TV quiz show and wins the grown-up Latika's heart.

Fox Searchlight, which produced the film, said the company had eventually decided to invite and pay for transportation of the film's entire cast, rather than bringing in a select few.

'We decided it was better to include everybody,' said Michelle Hooper, publicity chief of Fox Searchlight.

In addition to Ali and Ismail, the other young actors set to attend the Oscars are Freida Pinto, who played the adult Latika, Dev Patel, who played the adult Jammal, Madhur Mittal, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar and Tanay Chheda.