The movie Slumdog Millionaire has received a multitude of accolades, including honors at the Golden Globe Awards and 10 Academy Award nominations, but recently, the film’s producers (Fox Searchlight) faced allegations in the British press for not properly compensating the child stars of the film. However, the parents of 7-year-old Rubina Qureshi tell a different tale.

The young girl stars in the movie, and in return for her acting skills, her parents say the producers enrolled her in school and did more than a parent could have done for her. The young children in the movie, some of whom were found living in slums before filming, now have their education paid for until they are eighteen and basic living funds, as well as healthcare and emergency funds. There is also an unknown sum of money put aside for them when they reach the age of eighteen and have completed their studies.

In a statement, Fox Searchlight said the children in the movie were paid “three times the average local annual adult salary” for just thirty days of work. This type of compensation is clearly uncommon in India, and it appears the producers of the movie are not ashamed of the agreements made with the child stars and their families.

In the United States, the minimum wage for speaking role is $759 a day and $2634 a week, as negotiated by the Screen Actors Guild. The minimum paid to actors is re-negotiated during contract negotiations, and can not be challenged until the next round of negotiations. There is usually a three-year period between negotiations between SAG and the studios.

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