Slumdog Millionaire Essay Example for Free

Slumdog Millionaire Essay The issue we have decided to discuss is centred around the two children Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail who star in a leading role in the film Slumdog Millionaire. The film grossed $141,000,000 in the US alone and had a budget of $15 million but the two children only received  £500 ($700 American Dollars) and  £1,700 ($2408.50 American Dollars). Despite the claims of director Danny Boyle, that the film has â€Å"completely changed their impoverished lives† (Tyler, 2009) the children continue to live in the slums in India from where they were originally found. The children’s parents were very disappointed given the films worldwide success and had hoped that this film and their children’s leading roles would have given them opportunity of a better life outside the slums. Having found themselves leading the same lives as before Slumdog Millionaire, they realised just how under-paid their children were actually paid. Ismail predicament is considerably worse off as his illegal home was recently demolished by local authorities. It is even more difficult for the children to return to the slums given the lifestyle and the luxuries they received during the filming, promotion and subsequent award ceremonies. However both film makers and film distributors have disputed the families’ claims and have highlighted that the wages paid to both the children were three times the average local annual adult salary. Furthermore provisions have been made for the children’s education and once completed a trust fund will be paid to the then 18 year olds, Ali and Ismail. Ethical issues surrounding the topic * Underpaying the child actors in the Slumdog Millionaire movie * Allowing the children to return to the slums * Returning the children to their poverty stricken roots having experiences the lifestyle of a movie star * Not providing the children with a place to live after their home had been destroyed * Is the trust fund achievable given the children’s circumstances and harsh living conditions?