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February 20, 2009

'Slumdog' Producers Disavow Charity Connection

The makers of Slumdog Millionaire have disavowed any intent to link the Indian children’s charity Hope Foundation with a brutal criminal enterprise depicted in the much-lauded film, reports the British daily Telegraph.

In the film, a heavy favorite to win Best Picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards, the fictional Hope Orphanage is a front for a gang boss who plies the streets of Mumbai in an orange bus, scooping up children to work as beggars and prostitutes. The Hope Foundation, in Calcutta, uses a similar vehicle in its work providing shelter, food, and other services to orphaned and abandoned youths in Calcutta.

Responding to concerns raised by the foundation, which said it received hundreds of calls and e-mail messages about the movie, its producer, Celador Films, issued a statement asserting that “there was no intention to imply a connection” to the real-life charity.

Friday February 20, 2009 | Permalink

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