Slumdog Kids Tick Off Their Millionaires

Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail are missing too much school and are in danger of losing the trust funds set up by the makers of Slumdog Millionaire

Are Slumdog Millionaire's youngest stars too cool for school?

The benefactors who set up a trust fund for youngsters Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali to better their lives in the wake of the film's success said Thursday that the kids have skipped too much school and could lose their financial support.

The terms of the Jai Ho Trust, set up by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson, stated that Rubina, 9, and Azharuddin, 11, show up for at least 70 percent of the school term. They've been receiving $120 monthly stipends and are due to receive larger sums when they turn 18.

But right now, Rubina's attendance stands at 27 percent and Azharuddin's is 37 percent.

And that's not good enough, according to Boyle and Colson, who also hooked the Ismails up with a $50,000 home in July.

Supposedly the kids have been taking trips to Paris and other places in India during the school year and spending time too much time trying to make money from endorsements, TV appearances and the like.

Hmm...the 9- and 11-year-olds probably need adult supervision for that, don't they?

The kids' parents have blamed a string of misfortunes, including the death of Azharuddin's father in June and the destruction of Rubina's shanty, for their children's absences but have promised to do a better job keeping them in school.

"It's pathetic," trustee Noshir Dadrawala told The Times of London.

Trips are fine, he said, "but go over the weekend, not at the sacrifice of school."

"We have urged both families to honor their commitment to ensure regular school attendance," Colson and Boyle said in a statement.

"We thought that the parents would be incentivized by long-term benefits to their children. We were wrong."