Slumdog Millionaire Donates $746,000

Rubina Ali and Mohammed Azharuddin Ismail

A nice way to give back.

Slumdog Millionaire is that little film that was released last year that exceeded everyone's expectations when it grossed over $200 million worldwide and brought home eight Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture of the year. The film was set and filmed in India and now, the makers of hit movie are giving back.

The filmmakers of Slumdog Millionaire have donated 500,000 GBP - approximately $746,000, depending on the exchange rate at the moment - to Plan, an international children's charity that has been working in India since 1979. The money will go to helping educate 5,000 slum kids over the next five years, with the overall goal of improving the lives of street children in Mumbai.

Slumdog Millionaire's Academy Award winning director, Danny Boyle, issued the following statement, "Having benefited so much from the hospitality of the people of Mumbai it is only right that some of the success of the movie be plowed back into the city in areas where it is needed most and where it can make a real difference to some lives."

"Slumdog Millionaire has shown audiences around the world a snapshot of what life is like for one in six people on the planet," Plan UK's chief executive Marie Staunton said in a statement. "Education really is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty so we will focus the funds on getting children into school, keeping them there and ensuring they are healthy."