Slumdog Child Star Now Homeless in Mumbai

City authorities in Mumbai bulldozed 30 illegal shanty homes on Thursday, including the family home of 10-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail of Slumdog Millionaire.

Ismail, who played the character of Salim as a child in the Oscar-award winning film that grossed $326 million, is now preparing to spend the night in the mud next to what is left of his former home.

"What can I do if they have demolished my house?" he asked Reuters. "I will sleep out in the open."

The demolition of his home was part of a government mandated "pre-monsoon sweep" of illegally built shanties that sit along a drain, which needs to be cleaned out before the rains come.

Earlier this year, the housing authority of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, promised to give the families of Ismail and child co-star Rubina Ali new houses after the public learned that the two were still living in the slums despite the film's enormous success.

However, Ismail's mother, Shameen, told Reuters that the government never came through with their word.

"We also heard that the government had promised us houses, but what happened? We are still homeless," she said. "My son has brought glory to the country, shouldn't he get some credit?"