Slumdog star's home is demolished

[655321]

Azharuddin's mother: "They did not inform us. No notice was given to us."

The Mumbai slum home of one of the child stars of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire has been demolished by city authorities.

Reports say that police smacked the boy, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, with a bamboo stick before ordering him out.

The authorities claim he and other families were squatting on land that was owned by the government.

He played a younger version of one of the main characters in the film, which scooped eight Oscars.

"We are homeless, we have nowhere to go," Azharuddin said after the demolition.

The family lived in a temporary makeshift shelter made up of plastic sheets over bamboo sticks, in a slum near Bandra East in Mumbai.

He said he had been fast asleep when the demolition squad came and asked them to leave, later tearing down the entire row of tents pitched on the land.

The family claim they had not been informed about the planned demolition.

Municipal official, Uma Shankar Mistry, who was present during the demolition, told the BBC that the authorities only razed temporary and illegal homes which had recently been erected next to the slum.

He said the houses were in an area that was meant for a public garden.

Housing promise

The mother of the child actor said that she did not know what would happen to her family now and that the help promised by local authorities and by the film's makers had not materialised.

"Our house has been broken down by officials. We have not been given any alternate accommodation. Earlier the authorities had said they would give us a house. But I don't think that will happen any more," Shamim Ismail told the BBC.

The families of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and co-star Rubina Ali, who played a younger version of the film's female lead, had been promised new accommodation by a local housing authority.

But a decision about whether or not this will go ahead is still pending.

Film director Danny Boyle has strongly denied charges of exploitation.

The film's makers have set up funds to pay for their education and they have been enrolled in school for the first time.

They also recently announced that they will donate £500,000 to a charity which will help children living in the slums of Mumbai.

The film has made more than $200m (£140m) in box office takings around the world.

[drakul]

Azharuddin's mother: "They did not inform us. No notice was given to us."

The Mumbai slum home of one of the child stars of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire has been demolished by city authorities.

Reports say that police smacked the boy, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, with a bamboo stick before ordering him out.

The authorities claim he and other families were squatting on land that was owned by the government.

He played a younger version of one of the main characters in the film, which scooped eight Oscars.

"We are homeless, we have nowhere to go," Azharuddin said after the demolition.

The family lived in a temporary makeshift shelter made up of plastic sheets over bamboo sticks, in a slum near Bandra East in Mumbai.

He said he had been fast asleep when the demolition squad came and asked them to leave, later tearing down the entire row of tents pitched on the land.

The family claim they had not been informed about the planned demolition.

Municipal official, Uma Shankar Mistry, who was present during the demolition, told the BBC that the authorities only razed temporary and illegal homes which had recently been erected next to the slum.

He said the houses were in an area that was meant for a public garden.

Housing promise

The mother of the child actor said that she did not know what would happen to her family now and that the help promised by local authorities and by the film's makers had not materialised.

"Our house has been broken down by officials. We have not been given any alternate accommodation. Earlier the authorities had said they would give us a house. But I don't think that will happen any more," Shamim Ismail told the BBC.

The families of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and co-star Rubina Ali, who played a younger version of the film's female lead, had been promised new accommodation by a local housing authority.

But a decision about whether or not this will go ahead is still pending.

Film director Danny Boyle has strongly denied charges of exploitation.

The film's makers have set up funds to pay for their education and they have been enrolled in school for the first time.

They also recently announced that they will donate £500,000 to a charity which will help children living in the slums of Mumbai.

The film has made more than $200m (£140m) in box office takings around the world.


You would think Danny Boyle could buy these people a house. Doesn't cost much in India. After the way he has profited from the movie.

[gripit]

You would think Danny Boyle could buy these people a house. Doesn't cost much in India. After the way he has profited from the movie.

Who knows, could be a scam to try and make that happen.

[coco]

I read a story a few weeks ago that the production company offered to buy homes for the families but claimed the families were not satisified with any of the homes they were shown.

Dunno.

[655321]

They should buy them on of those 2000 dollar cars too.

[microverses]

hahahahahaha.....of COURSE they will say they are going to provide new housing for the family. what choice do they have???????

if this was another family that did not have a member that was part of a popular movie, no such thing would be offered.

i'd be curious to follow this up 6 months from now, 1 year from now, 2 years from now. my bet is they will have no home. pretty sad.

they say this to give the illusion they care, when they don't.

[tribe_of_david]

I seen a story a month or so back that one of the kids in the movie the little girl was being sold by her family.

[coco]

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/04/20/2009-04-20_slumdog_millionaire_star_rubina_ali_up_for_sale __by_her_father.html

The father of adorable "Slumdog Millionaire" star Rubina Ali is refuting an undercover report that he tried to sell his 9-year-old daughter.

The story, published by Britain's News of the World newspaper, is a "lie made up by foreign journalists playing games with me," cash-strapped dad Rafiq Qureshi tells People magazine.

Qureshi, who lives in a Mumbai slum along with his star daughter, offered to sell Ali for nearly $300,000 to undercover reporters, the paper says. News of the World also published a photo of their journalists meeting with the family while disguised as a wealthy couple from Dubai.

Qureshi was reportedly fielding several lucrative adoption offers for the starlet.

Ali's dad allegedly upped his asking adoption price for his apple-cheeked little girl during the negotiations because of Ali's star status.

"The child is special now," Qureshi's brother said, per the paper. "This is an Oscar child!"

Qureshi now acknowledges he received an offer to adopt Ali but says he pretended to be interested in an effort to be polite.

"In India, you never say 'no' directly, least of all to guests," he said. "You try not to offend people by refusing to help. They said they were childless and desperately fond of Rubina after seeing her in the film. I felt sorry for them, but I was never going to give her up."

Ali echoed her father's statements, saying, "I trust my father. He loves me. He has never said that he wants to give me up. I did meet an uncle and auntie in a big hotel but it was not about adoption. I will never give any foreign journalist an interview again."

The child actress and her father were spotted at a police station in Mumbai on Monday where both were interrogated about the incident.

Ali rose to fame earlier this year as the young Latika in "Slumdog." Break-out star Freida Pinto played the grown-up version of Latika.

Despite the stardom, Ali's father reportedly said the family "got nothing out of this film," although director Danny Boyle has set up apartments for Ali and fellow "Slumdog" child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and their families, which will be available soon.

Boyle has also set up a trust fund for Ali for her education.

[coco]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1154667/Boyle-takes-Slumdog-children--film-bosses-pledge-buy-poverty-stricken-families-new-homes.html

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has taken time out of his busy post-Oscar schedule to spend some quality time with the young stars of his hit film.

A paternal looking Boyle accompanied youngsters Rubina Ali and Azhruddin Mohammed to Santa Monica Pier for a seaside day out of fun and games.
Rubina Ali clutched a handful of toys as she walked alongside a female chaperone.

Their trip comes the day after a fairytale visit to Disney World. And after it was revealed that the poverty stricken child stars of are now set to be property tycoons.
The youngsters have now been promised new homes by the film’s Oscar winning director Danny Boyle.
Enlarge Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail feels the sand underneath his feet in Santa Monica

Boyle and producer Christian Colson told the Daily Mail that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali and their families will be moved to apartments worth £20,000 each in the coming months.
And in an astonishing turn of events, officials from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority - a Mumbai housing association - have now also said they want to gift the children a new flat each.

There was a public outcry after pictures emerged of the child stars still living in squalor, despite the fact the film had grossed £70million worldwide.

One showed ten year-old Azharuddin sleeping on a rotting makeshift mat - a bed he shared with his parents - while another featured him crouched down by rubbish, washing in dirty water.

The shack that Rubina, who plays the young heroine Letika, calls home is just yards from an open sewer.

Colson and Boyle told the Daily Mail the children and their families are looking at new apartments on the edge of the area where they live.
Boyle told the Daily Mail: ‘These are bricks and mortar flats. They will have electricity, running water and good sanitation.

'They will still be close to their friends and extended family.
'Their community is very important to them, and they don’t want to move too far away from them.
The film company has also agreed to pay for a rickshaw driver to take the children to and from school every day for the next eight years – to ensure they attend.

Last night, the MHADA said it too felt the child stars should be rewarded with a proper place to live.

The organisation’s chairman, Amarjeet Singh Manhas, said: 'These children have made the country proud and have an equal hand in the film winning the Oscar. These children are special and have won laurels for the country and we want to felicitate them.'

They were unable to give details on the size and location of the flats and critics accused the authority of offering the free flats as a political move ahead of the general election in April/May.

Colson said that the offer from Mumbai officials was a separate one to the proposals he and Boyle had drawn up.

Rubina’s father Rafiq Qureshi said: ‘It means so much for us to get a proper flat. For three generations we have been living in this slum and we might finally get out of here. It is not a proper place to live and it is always under threat from demolition.’

Colson and Boyle have always denied any claim the children were exploited by Slumdog Millionaire.

After filming completed last year, they set up a raft of measures to safeguard their long-term future including a trust fund and sending them to a local school.

They now admit that the plans have not worked in the way they had hoped and more needs to be done to help the youngsters, who many feel are the real stars of Oscar-winning film.

Azharuddin, who plays the young version of the lead character’s brother Salim, and his parents live in flimsy structure made of tarpaulins and blankets in the overcrowded Behrampada shanty area.

The family is worse off now than when Slumdog Millionaire was being filmed because the illegal hut they were living in has been demolished by the local council.
Colson told the Daily Mail: ‘The way Azharuddin is living now is substandard. We were told his home was razed a few months ago, and wired money over immediately.
‘The family gave that money to a broker, who promised to find them a new place to live, but has simply disappeared with the cash.’
‘We realized just sending money is not the answer and have evolved our plans over the past few weeks. The families are not equipped to cope with that sort of money.’
Producers will instead put the properties in a trust and ownership will only be released to the parents when the children turn 18.
‘We can’t buy the properties outright and give them to them, because in all honesty they will sell them,’ he said.
‘What we are doing is to acquire the flats for them, near the community where they fit in.

‘They will be held in trusts and ownership will only be released to the parents when the kids turn 18 and have completed their education,’ said Colson.

The children’s parents had complained the children had not been paid enough considering the success of the Slumdog Millionaire.
Azharuddin’s mother Shameem Ismail is blind in one eye, while his father Mohammed suffers from tuberculosis, leaving the family a limited income.
Rubina’s father has not worked for months after breaking his leg in an accident.
Producers said they would work with an NGO to find a suitable social worker to liaise with the families to ensure the children’s wellbeing over the next few years.
Boyle said: ‘It is not about throwing cash at the problem – that doesn’t work. It is about investing in the long term. The key thing is to make sure they stay in school.
‘We want the kids to have more than wealth, we want them to have the skills that will set them up for life.’

Azharuddin and Rubina attend Aseema, a non-profit English language school for underprivileged children.
It is oversubscribed but many who attend need substantial help and guidance for even the most basic life skills.
Boyle added that he and the film’s investors and distributors were also setting up a fund for the slum and street children of Mumbai.
So far £500,000 has been set aside as an initial figure but this is expected to rise.
● Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of a boy born in the slums who answers all the questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? correctly because of his life experiences. It has become the unexpected hit of the year and scooped 8 Oscars including Best Motion Picture and a Best Director Oscar for Boyle.

[tyler]

Indian society is totally corrupt and morally bankrupt. The elite do not give a toss about the poor and the huge disgusting slums do not seem to bother the middle classes at all.
They are a strange people and don't seem to have any national pride. They are happy to be surrounded by squalor.

[655321]

Indian society is totally corrupt and morally bankrupt. The elite do not give a toss about the poor and the huge disgusting slums do not seem to bother the middle classes at all.
They are a strange people and don't seem to have any national pride. They are happy to be surrounded by squalor.

True.

[drakul]

What the movie really brings out is the tragic loss of potential in India. All these wonderful children - intelligent, attractive, energetic, willing, eager to learn, and they are condemned to this life of squalor, hunger and rampant abuse.

This is typical of where belief in Re-incarnation brings a society. Poor people are discarded because `they deserve it' - past bad karma justifies the rich not helping the poor. Karmic belief justifies the arrogance of the wealthy in India.