– Slumdog Millionaire child star Azhar got smacked by his dad in front of cameras [Popeater]
– Jai Ho Oscar’s Best Song – video [PopBytes]
– Trailer Premiere: ‘The Informers’ with Mickey Rourke [Moviefone]
– Depression cooking videos with 91 year old great-grandmother Clara Cannucciari [Bitten and Bound]
– Mayor of a small Southern California city will resign after e-mailing a photo of the White House lawn planted with watermelons [Black Voices]
– Emma Thompson and daughter Gaia On The Red Carpet [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
– Megan Fox, Sexy & Single [Bastardly]
– Russell Simmons to pay $40k in child support to already independently wealthy wife with actor partner. That sounds fair. [The YBF]
– Katy Perry Has 2 Huge Smiley Faces on Her Shoulders [Hollywood Rag]
– How did Pete Doherty get named “Best Solo Artist”? [Agent Bedhead]
– Jeremy Piven Stays in Actors’ Union [Evil Beet]
– Solange looking like she’s still on the Nyquil [Concrete Loop]
– Jimmy Kimmel’s amusing slip on the air [Seriously? OMG! WTF?]
– Long-Lost Twins: Lindsay Lohan & Iggy Pop [Candy Kirby]
– Jake Gyllenhaal gets singing role in film version of Damn Yankees [Defamer]
– Robert Smith crosses the line [Best Week Ever]
Robert Smith, I think it *may* be time to tame the hair. Please?
How dare he slap and kick that child in public or private! POS.
Poor little guy! He’s so adorable.
I actually laughed really hard at the Jimmy Kimmel link. haha, woopsie on Jimmy.
The father is obviously anxious to ride out the fan fare as long as he can. On one hand I can empathize with the dad’s hunger for a better life. On the other hand I regret that the son’s potential acting career is thought to be the ticket to that better life.
Our culture is quite different than that in India. Mild physical discipline is common and is used frequently to rectify cases of disrespect, especially toward elders. I’m not making excuses,just stating the truth. Having traveled extensively I have come to learn that I cannot apply my American, culture, ethics and morals to situations in other cultures.
Life can go one way or the other for these kids. Let’s hope they find success and are treated with compassion and love and not used as piggy banks for their parent’s every desire.
wow thanks for representing a father in india
Sorry, that picture is just really painful for me.
Indian fathers, where to begin…
I completely agree with CeeJay.
While it may be hard for us to see a child suffering, it is not for us to impose our beliefs on another culture.
What we can do, is be grateful that in the West people have more choices as to how to raise their own children. It is unfortunate and uncalled for when any child is abused, but there are many lines between discipline and abuse.
(*spoken from a child of the West who was raised by a physically and verbally abusive mother.)
aww that picture looks so heartbreaking…
That’s horrible. That poor child. No one deserves to be hit and kicked because they are exhausted. I really can not excuse that. If the father wants to make more money he needs to find a way to do it himself, not by harming his child.
Baholicious are you indian???
I’m half Indo-Guyanese, so ethnically speaking yes.
This is no ones business how this man parents his child, maybe if kids around the states got smacked once in awhile the would now act up in public soo much and be an embarassment!!
Clara is adorable! I found her really endearing.
The picture of the Dad slapping his child is very upsetting. It makes me feel so helpless. I know parents need to discipline their children but could you do that to your child?
Joey, I hope you don’t have children.
What are you Joey, 90? Do you hit people with your cane too?
This is awful. These children must be so confused. Moving from one culture to another at break neck speed would be enough to make anyone breakdown. There are positives and negatives about this movie but what it may do to the children is atrocious. I also wonder what it will do to the two young stars Pak and what’s her name.Too much too soon has ruined many a Hollywood life.
I understand that mild physical discipline is used in India, but exploiting a child like that?! I’m not surprised the kid threw a fit, I’d be doing the exact same thing!
I hope Boyle keeps to his word and moves the kids and their families out of the slums.
I would have at least pulled the kid to the side and then smacked him up. But I guess…Papa Don’t Play Dat!
i think it’s the muslims… the hindu indians i know don’t seem to be as violent…
Okay so why would you say Indian fathers, where to begin???
Is you father indian too and abused you in any way? If so, I can tell you it’s not the fact he’s indian. My cousins father used to beat all his children including little hibba who is in a wheelchair ( she was born dead from the waist down ) and used to call her such things like “You’re a waste, worthless, it’s a shame they let you live, you’re nothing but a burden, youre pathetic, a toilet is more useful than you!!” and once tried to throw her down a flight of stairs. The last time I was there he lost it completely and went after my mother, hibba, his wife, the eldest daughter than me, his son was still an infant. Well lets just say that I decided that pens were not longer used for just writting. Their mom devorced him YEARS later because she caught him CHEATING( I guess all the other reason wern’t good enough!! ) now the damage to our hibba has been done. She doesnt go out, she’s afraid people will bully her, she left school, gained ALOT of weight, suffers from depression…you name it. I wrote a song forher called Girl behind the Door because whenever I visit now I never tell the I’m coming and when I arrive I’m always talking through a locked bedroom door to her. She’s always have tears in her eyes whenever I tell her to come outside with me. She honestly believes there is no place for her in this world thansk to that bastard. Then again in her part of teh world peopel in wheelchairs aren’t regarded much.
Some people have black hearts.
So if you were abused it wasn’t because of your dads nationality it’s like an epidemic.
So heres a question for everybody:
When does disiplining your child become child abuse? How far would you go???
Joey, when a child is abused, it is everyone’s business. Maybe if someone had kicked you for being exhausted you would see things differently. But hey wait, let me guess, because he is a child he does not deserve basic human rights.
Christina its not the muslims either it’s got nothing to do with religion.
Hibbas father is a maronite( his mother used to give her hell too ). Hibbas uncle is muslim and so are about half of my family, so it’s like half and half and we all get along just fine.
All the indians I know are christians ( I actually dont know one indian muslim surprisingly ) This father is obviously using his son and got pissed when his son wanted to just rest when the press arrived.
I hate that this happened, but a light needs to be shined on this situation. The movie has won awards and made lots of money for the studio and many of the actors. But the reality is that these child’s lives will not be changed as much as people think. Look at the picture.. That is their life. When people in our country talk about those who adopt from over seas.. Take a look at what those children’s lives would or could be. This child is better off them many. He is not sleeping in a jungle or camp, or hiding because someone may come and force you to join an army, or a girl who is in danger of being raped and mutilated. In this country there are programs and agencies to help.. Many countries do not have that. So when someone chooses to adopt or help out in a foreign country. Look at the pictures and learn about the situations before we criticize. This story unfortunately is not special.. It is common. And that is the part that is the most heart breaking.
Viper, unfortunately, spousal and child abuse and problem drinking are prevalent in the Indo-Guyanese community. That’s my frame of reference, not a generalization.
Discipline does not involve hitting them in the head, kicking them or humiliation. I don’t care where one comes from, that is abuse.
Oh I had no idea it was like that. I’m sorry baholicous I should look around more and Im def going to ask some of my friends. This just never came up before.
Having lived in Asia for several years I can say that physical chastisement of children is very common.
As someone who has never laid a finger on either of her children it is very difficult to witness, but our cultures are very different.
The parents will absolutely see these children as a meal ticket – it’s why I agree with Danny Boyle et al setting up trusts for the kids – he obviously understands that if he hands over the money to the parents now the chances are very great that the children will end up with nothing.
Is this pandering to our western sensibilities? Of course! In Asian culture it is the norm to share any good fortune among the family and community – the concept of saving for the childrens’ future would probably not be understood when the need to share and keep face is greater.
What the picture and info about the child being hit and kicked by his father illustrates is complete mismanagement by the film company, not child abuse. As far as I can see, the children are being exploited by the people associated with the film, who want to take them to Hollywood for the Oscars show, and then a trip to Disney Land (great publicity, virtually free!), and then dump them back home to life as usual. These children don’t have parents who have enough education or sense of power as a parent to adequately protect and supervise their children. They feel usurped, it would seem, and want to establish themselves as the parents and in control for the benefit of the press and on lookers.
What is this with not letting the father into the limo that is transporting his child? That is a policy that was demeaning and humiliating to the parents,and no doubt is just the tip of the ice berg. Can any you imagine not being allowed inside the vehicle transporting your child? Perhaps the faher wantd to say hello, perhaps he wanted to say good bye, perhaps he wanted to travel with his child to or from the airport, perhaps he wanted to check things out and get his child settled, or make sure all his child’s things were gathered together. Who knows? There are a multitude of good reasons for a parent to want to be in the vehicle transporting their child.
What this incident illustates to me is that the film company does not have the skills to deal with a family from another social class as well as a foreign culture. The parents need to betreated with respect, their intersts represented, and they need to be involved as equals in the decision making process about any matter pertaining to their child from start to finish.
It is interesting that so many commenters just assume that the father is trying to exploit and/or compete with his child. Why would you make that assumption? Is it because he is poor and homeless and therefore, in your mind, deserving of contempt?
And the comments about child abuse… Let’s get real. First of all, the Unite States is rife with child abuse. Secondly, you simply cannot judge parents in other countries by our cultural standards. If you do, you can only conclude that all parents in third world countries and a great many others besides are abusive and unfit parents, and where does that assumption get you? (Probably in the situtation that was photographed by the press today.)
oh great blame this on muslims too!
seriously tht was a very ignorant comment
and i don’t think Azhar embarassed anyone at all by his appearance on the red carpet..on the contrary i found him very cute..and parents hitting their child in any part of the world is just wrong! It definitely needs to be stopped.
Next thing you know people will start blaming muslims for paris hilton.
My dad is Iraqi and my mom is Algerian and I was raised in California but I definitely received physical punishment when I acted up in a way my parents thought was disrespectful. And you know what? I turned out just fine. I earned every ass beating I ever got and my parents never went overboard so I actually respected them more for not putting up with my attempt at fitting in and being a bratty potty mouth kid. You would not have as many ADHD kids in school if their parents actually raised them rather than trying to be their friend, which is a big problem in western families. Now I’m not advertising abuse or anything but sometimes…a smack on the tush is well deserved.
off my soap box and preparing for the heathen/terrorist/muslim remarks.
have a good weekend in any case
So, you still think the film producers should give all the money in trust to the kids right now, this very minute?
Christina: you sound very uneducated.
First off that poor kid has to be exhausted and jet lagged from the travel and time difference. Now as for the father, it is never ok to kick a child and he should be punished for his abuse. I am glad that Danny did not give money to this horrid man.
That wasn’t punishment because he was kicked. Had he just been slapped, I could’ve overlooked it, even though I do consider that abuse as well – but the kick absolultely made it abuse.
For those of you who say that it’s just another culture doing their thing, do you not understand that sometimes what people in different cultures do is wrong? Kicking a child, for any reason, is abuse and shouldn’t happen.
If thinking that way makes me a crazy Westerner, so be it, but at least the children around me won’t fear me.
Yes, the picture is heartbreaking but I do not think the dad is a madman. Does the discipine justify his father’s reason? No it doesnt
Disciplining kids in Asia is very different from the West. If this news picture is seen in Asia, I’m sure the reactions wouldn’t be as surprised as I see here. Some of you need to realize culture is different over there…just like eating cow meat in the West is viewed as unacceptable from a place like India. Nobody is the same!
I can tell you that this has less to do with different cultural attitudes towards discipline and everything to do with ignorance and lack of education. You can bet that this kid’s dad was also slapped and beaten by his father in exactly the same way. And that this child will more than likely grow up to slap his children the same way. If the film’s producers want to make sure these children’s lives aren’t ruined by having acted in Slumdog Millionaire, they should also pay a social worker to pay regular visits to the children to make sure they aren’t being abused or exploited by anyone, including their own parents.
I second Bina’s motion.
Excellent comments Tigerlillie.
tigerlille: I agree with you.
Most probably it’s the first thing the father asked his son to do for him in days, and the son refused – which is a major disrespect. The father wouldn’t let pass any beginning of disrespect from this child, especially because he’s been treated like a god recently.
A great majority of parents in this world would consider having a Paris-Hilton-like brat as a child as the ultimate dishonor.
And would turn physical to prevent any threat of it. Not that I condone abuse. But there are parts of the world where poor people still have pride.
I’m Indian, this is embarrassing.
Not all Indian parents are like that, but a lot of them are, they are living in suh a backwards country that will not see the light for another 100 yrs or so. But I’ve had the fortune of meeting my friends parents (yes indian) and let me tell you their kids were treated with love, respect,were hit, and they were lovely well behaved children , the more educated the parents are means they will never strike their child and treat them with respect, the abuse comes out of ignorance and lack of knowledge.
i mean to say “were never hit”