Slumdog kids aren't being left alone: producers

Producers of the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire are contemplating "systematic protection mechanism" for the two slum childrenu00a0

They want something more professional to be put in place to look after Azharuddin Mohammed (10) and Rubina Ali Qureshi (9), the child actors in the film who attended the Oscars with six other children who are from better off families.

"They (Azharuddin and Rubina) are not being left alone - their lives are being disrupted," film producer Christian Colson said.

"We need a more systematic protection mechanism in place for them. The profile of the film is high and will remain high, we can't assume attention on these children will drift away."

Colson has also suggested setting up a stage musical based on the film to help generate money for poor children in Mumbai and the the film-makers set fund has so far raised half a million pounds.

It was "imperative that the welfare of the children is in the hands of experts and not well-intentional inexperts," he told The Times.

"It is important that we do right by these kids."

If plans by theatre producers and potential cover versions of the film's songs came to fruition, the money raised could be multiplied many times over and ploughed back into the slums that inspired the film.

The trip to Oscars in Los Angeles has rebuilt trust between the children's families and the film-makers, after accusations that they had been financially exploited - a charge that Colson and Danny Boyle, the director, deny.

Colson has said that Azharuddin and Rubina were paid three times an annual adult salary for a month's work.