Slumdog will sweep

The buzz around the underdog movie gets louder a day before Oscar night, as Slumdog Millionaire's children visit Universal Studios, older stars hobnob with Hollywood and Freida Pinto goes saree shop-hopping

Slumdog will sweep

THE moment to watch out for is when the envelope for Best Film is opened. If it is Slumdog Millionaire, all the child actors from Mumbai will troop on to stage en masse for what will surely be a first for the Oscars in its 81 years.

The 120 Oscars nominees at the Oscar Luncheon

"The boys will look so cute in their tux," says Madhur Mittal, who plays Jamal Malik's criminal elder brother, Salim, in the film. He has been measured for his tuxedo "though I have brought one from Bombay just in case".

We are in the elegant lobby of a plush Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles where many of the Slumdog cast are staying. Freida Pinto, wearing a tight red sweater with slacks and looking a trifle exhausted, breezes in and is out in the space of five minutes because she is "doing back to back interviews".

Confirming the arrival of the child actors, a spokeswoman for Fox Searchlight, which picked up the film when it was dropped by Warner Bros, tells me: "No interviews we just want them to have a fun time." Madhur discloses: "The children are going to Universal Studios in the morning, then perhaps Disney."

Madhur looks nothing like the menacing Salim in Slumdog. He is missing home because this is his 21st birthday. The view from his room looks nothing like the slums near Juhu where much of Slumdog was filmed. Apart from Rubina Ali, the child actors include Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who plays the movie's youngest Salim. The others include Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala (middle Salim), Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar (middle Latika), Tanay Chheda (middle Jamal) and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (youngest Jamal).

We discuss the movie which encourages Madhur to defend Freida. "There has been so much about her (private life) in the media and it just isn't true. There was one report in a Mumbai paper that she was married u2014 not true. She hasn't changed. She remains a nice person."

Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan have arrived at the hotel but have been whisked out without even checking in. In LA, fame has its price. Interruptions over, Madhur returns to disclosing tidbits about the film. The pond of human excreta that the little Jamal had to wade through on his way to collecting Amitabh Bachchan's autograph was "actually made from peanut butter and chocolate". Madhur licks his fingers to make his point. I had not much cared for peanut butter even before. The discussion turns to Slumdog's Oscar chances. "There is so much pressure," observes Madhur.

I turn to Hollywood insider Ashok Amritraj, whom I have long regarded as India's unofficial ambassador in tinseltown. He has worked in the entertainment industry in LA for 27 years, is about to start producing his 100th mainstream movie, has been attending Oscar ceremonies since 1982 Gandhi took eight Oscars that year and appears pretty confident. "Slumdog will sweep," says Ashok in a matter of fact voice.

As an Academy member, he is eligible to vote and has done. Although the voting is supposed to be secret, he leaves me in little doubt. "For Best Picture I voted for Slumdog, for Best Director I voted for Danny (Boyle), the song I voted for Rahman he did Jeans for me 10 years ago with Ash (Aishwarya Rai), one of her first movies. Jai Ho will win, I think," he predicts. He goes on: "Adapted Screenplay I went with Simon Beaufoy. I thought the three stars of the film were Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and the editor (Chris Dickens)."

The recession in America has helped Slumdog, apparently. "The economy works very much in its favour," reasons Amritraj. "The fact that we are in a depression makes people seeing this film actually learn to appreciate what they have, had, still have, and how many other people around the world are worse off."

Slumdog is, no doubt, the front runner but Pete Hammond, a senior writer on the Los Angeles Times who has been chatting privately to some of the Academy members, suggests there could be some huge upsets on Oscar night. The votes of over 5,800 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who sent in their ballot papers by the deadline of 5pm on February 17, have already sealed the fate of the winners and the losers. Indians will be reassured to learn that the tabulations are being done by PriceWaterhouseCoopers of Satyam fame.

Even though Slumdog Millionaire "appears to have this Best Picture thing all sewn up there was a peculiar sign that occurred last week at the White House when, according to CNN, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Best Picture contender with a leading 13 nominations, became the first movie officially shown there since President Obama took over three weeks ago," Hammond pointed out in the Los Angeles Times.

Post the Oscars, Slumdog will continue to make money. In the US, its box office takings are headed towards $100m. And the more successful the film becomes, the greater will be the pressure on Freida to act the star.
In an interview with the fashion critic of the Los Angeles Times, she has come clean. Taken to a saree shop in "Little India", as Artesia, a suburb of Los Angeles with a cluster of Indian shops, is nicknamed, Freida confessed all. "I don't wear sarees," Freida admitted, scanning the colourful yardage. "I feel I'm too young."
(By arrangement with The Telegraph)

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