DANNY BOYLE - YOUNG SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE STARS TO ATTEND OSCARS

YOUNG SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE STARS TO ATTEND OSCARS

Child actors from Oscar-nominated film Slumdog Millionaire are fly for the first time as they attend the Academy awards this weekend.

The Mumbai-set drama is the favourite to claim the best picture Oscar having already won seven Baftas and four Golden Globes.

And while director Danny Boyle and lead actors Dev Patel, Freida Pinto and Anil Kapoor have attended several red carpet events, two of the film's youngest stars are to attend this Sunday's Oscars, it has been announced.

Rubina Ali, nine, and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, ten, who play the film's romantic leads Jamal and Latika as children, both grew up in the slums of Mumbai and will leave India for the first time to attend the Oscars.

"I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars," Rubina told the Associated Press news agency on Friday, before leaving for the US.

"My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good.'"

"I'm not scared," she added, before boarding the plane with her uncle. "I'm going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here."

Rubina and Azharuddin have been enrolled in schools in India and funds are set aside to support them and their families throughout their childhood.

"Everybody is really excited about it," said James Finn, of Fox Searchlight, who said the children would be staying in a five-star hotel.

"It's nice the whole gang will be together."