Smile Pinki
Along with ‘Slumdog Millionaire,” India has ‘Smile Pinki’s’ Oscar to celebrate
By JOE NEUMAIERFEB 25, 2009 | 5:08 PM
At the Academy Awards after-parties, the kids from “Slumdog Millionaire” made the rounds, chatting and accepting congratulations.
They shared the joy of winning with Pinki Devi, 8, the star of director Megan Mylan‘s “Smile Pinki,” called “The other Indian hit” at this year’s Oscars.inRead invented by TeadsADVERTISEMENT
Named Best Documentary Short, the film follows then-5-year-old Pinki as she travels from her poverty-stricken village to a hospital in Banaras, India, where children with cleft palates are given free surgery thanks to a charity called the Smile Train.
According to the organization, 4.7 million children a year are born with cleft palates in developing countries due to lack of nutrition during pregnancy. Since 2000, the Smile Train has helped 500,000 children.
They now fund the 45-minute surgery that is performed on 110,000 kids a year.
The film shows Pinki and her father, Rajendra, making the 3-hour trek to the hospital. Pinki, who had stopped going to school because of taunts from kids, is seen five months later, her lip healed and excitedly joining in on games and learning in the classroom.
“A thousand people streamed into Pinki’s village on the Friday before the Oscars for nonstop prayer vigils,” says Smile Train founder Brian Mullaney.
“This is the same village that used to scorn her, calling her ‘cut-lip.’ Now they see her as bringing good luck to them.”
Mullaney, a Long Island native and former advertising exec, works with a staff of just over 40 people doing work in 76 of the world’s poorest countries.
The group, completely underwritten by donations, works with local physicians.
The average patient’s age is 7.
On Sunday, Pinki and the “Slumdog” actors enjoyed the post-Oscar events beginning at the Governors’ Ball, drinking Coca-Cola and sharing the spotlight with celebrities and superstars. (Cameron Diaz and Eva Mendes‘s hair stylist did Pinki’s hair for no charge.)
Later, at the Four Seasons, “Slumdog’s” Tanay Hemant Chheda, from Mumbai, excitedly told Pinki, “I’ve read all about you!”
“Every Oscar changes a career — ‘Smile Pinki’s’ Oscar will hopefully change the lives of millions of children,” says Mullaney.
