Now, Slumdog guide cries foul

Satyavrat Mudgal claims that the producers owe him Rs 45,000; coordinator rubbishes allegations

Slumdog Millionaire may be the most successful film made on Indian soil, but it's also the most controversial one. After parents of Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, the two child artistes from Bandra's Garib Nagar slums who featured in the movie, another character artiste Satyavrat Mudgal, who played a small part in the film, has claimed that he was not paid his dues of Rs 45,000 by the film's director Danny Boyle.u00a0u00a0u00a0



Mudgal played a tourist guide in Slumdog for the two Japanese tourists, whose shoes were robbed outside the Taj Mahal. He met Boyle through a film coordinator, who later conducted the audition and gave him a part in the movie.

Not a penny

Said Mugdal, "I shot for the film on December 16, 17 and 18, 2007, and they promised to pay me Rs 15,000 a day. During the shoot there was some law and order problem and the shooting was stopped for a few days.

After this, I went to the hotel where the crew was put up, but they had checked out."

"I went from Delhi to Mumbai demanding my pay, but the coordinator refused to pay me a penny. The film won the Oscars, the cast and crew walked the red carpet, but they can't pay me a paltry Rs 45,000," he added.

Dues cleared

However, India Take One Production, who provided a number of small-time artistes for Slumdog refuted Mudgal's allegations. Pravesh Sahni, the company's owner, said, "We paid the promised sum to Mudgal, but he kept demanding more money."u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Added R P Singh, the coordinator who played mediator between Boyle and Mudgal, "I told Mudgal that he would be paid Rs 3,000 and did so. After the shoot, he demanded for Rs 15,000 a day and even threatened to go to the police."u00a0u00a0

Money matters
Slumdog Millionaire is not the first film to come under the spotlight over the salaries paid to those who helped make them such a success. Other Hollywood movies that have raked up a similar controversy include Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, No Country for Old Men, The Sixth Sense.