Reeling

Several hundred people rioted in a theater in Patna, India that was showing the Best Picture Oscar favorite Slumdog Millionaire, angered by the film's title. The U.K. Times reports that activist Tateshwar Vishwakarma, who organized the protest and has even filed a lawsuit against some of the filmmakers, said the word "Slumdog" was the main focus of their anger.

"Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights," Vishwakarma told the paper. "We will burn [director] Danny Boyle effigies in 56 slums here."

Meanwhile, the parents of two of the child actors in the film, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, who continue to live in poverty-stricken conditions, have accused the filmmakers of exploiting the kids, even though a spokesman for distributor Fox Searchlight told the U.K. Telegraph that "for 30 days work, the children were paid three times the average local annual adult salary" and that "they were enrolled in school for the first time and a fund was established for their future welfare, which they will receive if they are still in school when they turn 18."

"Due to the exposure and potential jeopardy created by the unwarranted press attention, we are looking into additional measures to protect Azhar and Rubina and their families," the studio spokesman told the paper. "We are extremely proud of this film, and proud of the way our child actors have been treated."

Meanwhile, the executives running the Oscar campaign for Benjamin Button read the same news stories and muttered "Excellent."