Mumbai Slums Cheer Millionaire

Children broke into Bollywood dance numbers in the narrow lanes of a teeming Mumbai slum today, as they gathered to watch Slumdog Millionaire's domination of the Oscars. Two of Slumdog's child actors, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, hail from this desperately poor neighborhood, and their every appearance elicited squeals of joy from the crowd. "My eyes couldn't believe that I was seeing Rubina in America," said one friend.

Slumdog won eight Oscars, each time inspiring raucous renditions of the dance routines for which India's movie industry is known. Rubina's mother said she couldn't wait for her daughter to return. ""I will go to the airport with a band of musicians and greet her," she said. Some of her neighbors even fasted in solidarity. "We decided we'd eat only after all the awards are announced. Now we will celebrate and have breakfast," explained one. "We prayed that Rubina would get success." (More Slumdog Millionaire stories.)