West Side Tale Blog » Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle offers child stars roles in new flick

Madison — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:35:07 +0000

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has offered the child stars in the movie roles in his new flick.

The British director wants Rubina Ali, nine, and Mohammed Ismail, 11, to star in his new flick Bombay Velvet.

The film is set for release in 2011 and will start shooting in India next year. Boyle recently met with the children at a hotel in Mumbai and said: “You will both act in my film.”

Boyle also said he would give Rubina’s family �35,000 to move from a slum as Azharuddin is already in a new flat.

It is claimed Azharuddin asked the director: “Danny Uncle, will you give me a car? I need one to go to school.”

Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali finishes autobiography at nine

Madison — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:04:58 +0000

Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali has finished writing her autobiography aged just nine years old.

The young actress played Latika in the Oscar-winning film and is the youngest person ever to release an autobiography.

In the book, Rubina describes getting the role of Latika and flying from her home in Mumbai to the US where she attended the Oscars and met Nicole Kidman.

Talking about flying to the US, she said: "The strangest thing was I didn’t see anyone walking. Everyone seems to have a car. It looked empty."

She also reportedly called Nicole Kidman "strange" and said she stayed in her room a lot of the time to avoid photographers and shelter from the heat.

The book, called Slumdog Dreaming: My Journey, will be released on July 17, and Rubina said she hopes the book will raise funds for charity work in Mumbai.

Freida Pinto and Dev Patel are an item

Madison — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:05:43 +0000

Freida Pinto has finally confirmed that her and Dev Patel are an item – but said the relationship was still in its early stages.

According to OK! magazine, the pair – who met on the set of Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire – have finally come clean.

Pinto said: “The friendship blossomed after the film, it got even stronger. This is all new to us. He�s a lovely boy.”

It is the first time Pinto has spoken about the romance, although Patel�s mother Anita recently confirmed that the pair were dating.

Source: Splash News

Slumdog Millionaire star Rubiana Ali has been forced to flee her home

Madison — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:23:06 +0000

Slumdog Millionaire star Rubiana Ali has been forced to flee her home after sewage flooded the slum.

The nine-year-old was reportedly covered in waste after a pipe was cracked by the council, leading to waste being poured into the Garib Nagar slum in Mumbai.

Rubiana said, according to British newspaper the Metro: “This is just typical for my family right now.”

Rubiana’s dad Rafiq was recently accused of trying to sell his daughter for �200,000, but police in India later cleared him of the charges.

The youngster played Latika as a child in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film alongside Dev Patel and Freida Pinto.

Source: Splash News

Danny Boyle not to direct next Bond flick

Madison — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:12:01 +0000

The grape wine has it that Danny Boyle, the director of the Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire will direct the next James Bond movie. And so strong is the news current that some say that bosses of the Bond franchise have approached Danny to direct the upcoming sequel to last year’s Quantum of Solace.

A source close to Bond producer Barbara has told an English newspaper that “He has been offered the chance to direct the 23rd Bond film by (Bond producer) Barbara (Broccoli). Everyone on the Eon team thinks Danny would be the perfect addition to the Bond family.”

But Danny has said although he is a huge fan of Bond movies he has no plans to take up such a project. Either he has lost it completely that he is letting go such an offer or then Bond bosses must be insisting that Danny cast Dev Patel as the next James Bond and Freida Pinto as he seductive love interest.

In that case the movie better not hit the screens and Danny can elope to the Himalayas.

Madison — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:01:43 +0000

The direct and main character from �Slumdog Millionaire� will be competing as a team on the real thing in a UK celebrity special in order to raise money for the Indian street kids. A source had this to say about the upcoming event: “Danny and Dev are keen to keep on giving back to the street kids depicted in the movie. It should happen this year. To have Dev back in the Millionaire hot seat would be brilliant, and would do a lot for the charity.” It will be interesting to see how far Dev Patel and Danny Boyle working together will actually get and it is, after all, for a noble cause, but you have to ask yourself exactly how the game will work since it�s a celebrity special and it�s for charitable purposes. To put it more bluntly: will it be rigged or not? Ah, now there�s an interesting paradox.

The Pussycat Dolls Team With AR Rahman for Slumdog’s You Are My Destiny

Madison — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:45:56 +0000

The Pussycat Dolls have teamed up with two time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman for an English interpretation of the song “Jai Ho!”, the spectacular finale to the Oscar winner for Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire. Listen here for a preview of A.R. Rahman and the Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger “Jai Ho!” (You Are My Destiny).

Super-producer Ron Fair (Fergie, Christina Aguilera) produced the lead vocals for Nicole, whose voice blends with that of composer A.R. Rahman. Visit People.com for more info on the story.

India’s film industry gets boost after Slumdog’s win

Madison — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:38:00 +0000

The biggest winner of last Sunday’s Academy Awards was not Slumdog Millionaire but the Indian film industry. Expect Bollywood to be in focus this year and in many more years to come especially after they have proven how much talent they have to share to Hollywood. Slumdog Millionaire is not only about poor people becoming rich or about poor kids living in the slums of Bombay. Slumdog Millionaire is all about the potential of the Indian film industry and how both Bollywood and Hollywood can benefit from each other when they work together.

India is known for having one of the most prolific film industry in the world but it never shined during the Oscars or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Award. The film Gandhi brought India’s first Oscar’s Award for costume designer Bhanu Athaiya in 1983. After a long hiatus, a lifetime achievement award was given to director Satyajit Ray in 1992. With the almost grandslam victory of Slumdog Millionaire, the Indians are getting the attention they deserve. Among those who got an Oscar Award are Allah Rakha Rahman for Best Music Score who also won for Best Original Song along with Gulzar. The Best Sound Mixing Award also went to Indian Resul Pookutty. Slumdog Millionaire is actually a showcase of good collaboration between Bollywood and Hollywood as it starred Bollywood talents, made by a British filmmaker and written by an Indian diplomat.

Will controversy slim down Slumdog’s Oscar chances?

Madison — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:43:05 +0000

Oscar Award contender Slumdog Millionaire has become so big it is even a top contender in the controversy department. After reaping the trophies in various awards giving bodies this season the movie’s production staff got hounded by complaints that two young stars in the movie who are based in Mumbai were paid less than the wages of most Indian domestic servants. The movie has also been criticized for depicting the lives of people living in the slums of India. Surprisingly the news leaked on Tuesday, a day after the final ballots were sent to the members of the Academy. Tough luck for Slumdog Millionaire which is being touted as the next Oscar Best Picture. Fox Searchlight studio however questioned the timing of the news release saying it is sad that the race for the Oscar’s has come down to this level insinuating that the reports were intended to squash Slumdog’s Oscar chances.

This is nothing new however considering how several best picture nominated films also suffered the same fate of ruining their chances no thanks to bad publicity. Despite this, Slumdog continues to win honors. Slumdog director Danny Boyle was chosen best director by the Directors Guild of America last Saturday. The DGA is said to be a determining factor as to which nominee will win the Oscars considering that all DGA awards for the past 61 years except six awards won the Academy Awards Best Director. Oscars history also shows that the best director winner in the DGA also gets to see his film win the best movie award in the Oscars. Slumdog tells the story of an Indian boy who grew up in the Mumbai slums and wins not only the girl of his dreams but also gets the chance to compete in a TV talk show.

Hollywood celebrities lavish praise on Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel

Madison — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:50:04 +0000

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have lavished with full praise on the actor who started in the Golden Globe awarding winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. Bollywood actor Dev Patel has suddenly realized that he has carved a small name for himself in the A-list league of Hollywood celebrities.

Patel says, “It’s been like a whirlwind. I was taken straight from the airport in my jeans to a posh tea party. I was still holding my passport when I got introduced to Clint Eastwood. I was embarrassed because I felt a bit smelly! When we got to the Golden Globes it was completely full-on. Demi Moore came up to me on the red carpet. Then Drew Barrymore took me to one side for a 10-minute chat.”

Yeah Dev, this place called Hollywood is no more different than your own Bollywood. But there is much higher stakes here and the flamboyance is even greater here but to stick around here you would not need any of your Indian Tech knowledge.