First flight for Slumdog actors before the red carpet

The child actors of Slumdog Millionaire will take their first plane to Hollywood to see if the movie wins any of the 10 Oscars for which it is nominated.

Walking the red carpet tomorrow will be 40 cast and crew members from the film, nominated for 10 Academy awards including best picture and best director.

Among them will be Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali Qureshi, nine, who were picked from Mumbai's slums to appear in the movie.

"I'm not scared," said Rubina. "I'm going to take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here."

Dev Patel, the 18-year-old Londoner who plays the film's main character, and his co-star, Frieda Pinto, 24, from Mumbai, are also going to Los Angeles.

Some reports claimed the child actors had been exploited by the film-makers and paid pitiful wages. The film's director, Danny Boyle, released a statement denying the accusations, pointing out the children had been put into school for the first time, and that a fund had been set up to cover their costs.

Anil Kapoor, who plays the gameshow host in the movie, told the Guardian: "These things get kicked up easily in India."

Asked whether Slumdog would win any Oscars, Kapoor said he was sure it would win best original score, for music composed by AR Rahman.
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