Danny Boyle Visits, Houses Slumdog Kids

Whether it's a starring role on eBay or razed houses in the Mumbai slums, the post-Oscar saga of young Slumdog Millionaire darlings Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali hasn't quite lived up to their film's heartwarming spirit. But filmmaker Danny Boyle dropped by the city to ameliorate at least some of that today, finding a new residence for Ismail and promising improved quarters for Ali soon. Which still didn't make her father happy.

Doing that delicate dance of holding a press conference to tell the media to back off, Boyle and Slumdog producer Christian Colson visited the children and their families today just outside Mumbai. According to Reuters, Boyle took the opportunity to explain both the unrealistic expectations fueled by constant press coverage and the measures his Jai Ho Trust would take to ensure the kids' welfare going forward. Among them: New homes, starting with a $42,000 flat for Ismail ("comfortable, in a good neighborhood [and] near his school," said a director for the trust).

Ali and her family will get their own place if and when her father -- who was busted in a sting last month after allegedly attempting to sell Ali on the black market -- returns to the negotiating table (for the house, not the kid). The AP reports he "stormed out" of today's meeting, later complaining: "It's no big deal for them, this kind of money. It's been five or six months we've been living in such difficulty. They should help us. ... After the Oscars they forgot about us. For two months we didn't get any money."

Assuming this isn't just another evil media misrepresentation, am I out of line for suggesting Boyle go ahead and take him up on that daughter-for-sale thing? This dude can cash in, she can pursue her life and her education in peace, and then we can all be done with this? Besides forgetting about the family altogether, which seems impossible under the circumstances, is there another option I'm missing?

· Boyle, Colson buy 'Slumdog' star a home [Reuters]

· Slumdog filmmakers meet poor kid stars in Mumbai [AP]