Slumdog child stars off to Oscars

The child actors from Slumdog Millionaire will attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, Fox Pictures executives said.

The child actors from Slumdog Millionaire will attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, Fox Pictures executives said.

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The 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.

All nine actors who play the three main characters in three stages of their lives will attend the Oscars, James Finn of Fox Searchlight Pictures has said.

They include actors comfortable on the red carpet, like Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, who has been praised in Vogue as a new style icon.

Also attending will be Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (10) and Rubina Ali (9), both of whom were plucked from their homes in a Mumbai slum by director Danny Boyle.

“I’m very happy that I’m going to the Oscars,” Rubina said on Thursday, hours before she was to leave for the US with her uncle. “My friends are saying, ‘Your fate is so good’. I’m not scared. I’m going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here.”

Rubina said she planned to go shopping for a dress to wear to the ceremony.

Rubina’s uncle Mohidden Khan (40) laughed when asked what he would wear on the red carpet. “I’m thinking maybe jeans and a T-shirt,” he said.

Finn said Fox Searchlight had been making visa and travel arrangements for the children and their relatives until the last minute.

“Everybody is excited about it,” said Finn, who added that the actors would be staying in a five-star hotel. “It’s nice the whole gang will be together.”