While promoting Slumdog Millionaire during the last year’s awards season, director Danny Boyle and Slumdog producers promised to set up a trust for the young child actors in the film, all of whom were still living in Mumbai ghettos after their work in the film. The major controversy post-awards season was that it simply took forever for the trust to be set up – and the film’s producers came under some heavy criticism. However, eventually the trust did come together, with Danny Boyle even flying to Mumbai to see the kids and get the whole project rolling. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and his family were moved into a small apartment (Rubina Ali is still in a slum), and the families were told that they would only get their stipend if the kids adhered to certain conditions, like going to school full-time. Therein lies the problem. It seems the kids and their families are in danger of losing the money because the kids aren’t attending school with any kind of regularity:

Ten-year-old Rubina Ali has missed nearly 75 percent of her classes and her co-star hasn’t done much better – truancy that filmmakers say will jeopardize their trust funds and monthly stipends if it continues.

Their parents blame the absences on deaths in the family or other misfortunes, including the demolition of Rubina’s shanty by city authorities earlier this year, and have promised to do better. But the filmmakers say the children are being lured away by endorsement deals, television appearances and other opportunities to cash in on their celebrity – at the risk of losing the money set aside for them once they graduate.

“Our love got a little bit tougher today,” “Slumdog” producer Christian Colson told The Associated Press Thursday. “We understand there are opportunities for both kids – and for the parents of both children – to cash in, in the short term, on their celebrity. We don’t have a problem with that. But if they want to benefit from the trust, they have to get those attendance rates up.”

Beneath the debate about school is a deeper tug-of-war between the impoverished families’ urge for as much short-term gain as possible and the filmmakers’ desire to endow the children with a secure future.

Rubina and 11-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail both grew up in one of Mumbai’s most wretched slums. They shot to fame after starring in the rags-to-riches blockbuster, which won eight Oscars. Rubina was cast as the young Latika, who grows up to become the hero’s love interest, and Azhar plays his brother, Salim.

After filming ended, director Danny Boyle and Colson got the pair placed in a Mumbai school that helps disadvantaged children. But these days, Azhar is showing up to class just 37 percent of the time and Rubina’s attendance is only 27 percent, said Noshir Dadrawala, an administrator of the trust.

“It’s pathetic,” said Dadrawala, adding that a flurry of awards ceremonies, festivals and fashion shows that have taken the kids to Paris, Madras and elsewhere are detracting from their studies.
These have included Rubina’s Paris trip to promote a book about her life, “Slumgirl Dreaming: My Journey to the Stars,” as well as a tea party at Westminster in London, a dance number on a Hong Kong TV show and, of course, a trip to Los Angeles for the Oscars.

“They are constantly going … That’s fine, but go over the weekend, not at the sacrifice of school,” Dadrawala said.

The parents were told Thursday that if the children do not get their attendance above 70 percent they would lose their monthly $120 stipend. And if the kids fail to graduate, they will forfeit the lump sum payment set aside to help them get a start in life, Dadrawala said.

The filmmakers have declined to reveal the amount of the trust for fear of exposing the families to exploitation. In addition, both families are covered by medical insurance, which the trust finalized Thursday. Azhar’s mother, Shameem Ismail, said her son had missed school because he has been inconsolable since his father died in September from tuberculosis.

“He would cry often, so I kept him home from school for a while,” she said, promising he would go to class more often. As long as I’m alive, I will make sure my son gets an education.”

Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi, said his daughter’s absences were due to the destruction of the family’s shanty last May and a cut on her leg that forced her to stay home.

“It will not happen next time,” he promised. “I also know education makes people brighter.”

In July, Azhar moved out of a sheet metal shack in the slum into a $50,000 one-bedroom apartment the filmmakers bought for his family in Mumbai. His mother said Thursday that though they quite like the apartment, where they live with a half-dozen relatives, Azhar would prefer a room of his own.

Rubina remains in the slum. The trustees say they’ve shown Rubina’s family a half-dozen apartments, all of which they rejected. Rubina’s father complained the apartments were too small or too far from his daughter’s school and said it will cost at least $73,000 to find an appropriate place.

But the filmmakers aren’t bargaining. If Rubina’s family doesn’t take a place by January, the money for the apartment will be given to a charity, Colson said.

“He’s continually turned down offers of decent accommodation we’ve offered in the hope that he can embarrass us into making more money available,” Colson said of Rubina’s dad. “We’ve got a significant sum of money sitting there, which other children could benefit from. That’s not the outcome we want. But we need Rafiq to understand we’re not here to negotiate.”

Colson and Boyle were in Mumbai this week to meet with Indian filmmakers and Bollywood megastars Anil Kapoor and Aamir Khan about several film projects, including a thriller loosely based on Suketu Mehta’s book “Maximum City,” a journalistic memoir about Mumbai’s seamy underworld. They also hosted a tea party reunion at the JW Marriott hotel in a posh neighborhood at the epicenter of Mumbai’s burgeoning film industry that was attended by many of the film’s child actors, including Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, who played Latika as a young teenager.

As Rubina and Azhar swept into the Marriott’s marble lobby – Rubina in pink Puma sneakers and Azhar in a flashy silver and red jacket – they were ensnared in a net of popping flash bulbs and aggressive television cameramen. They began to perform for the cameras: Rubina grabbed on to the bulky biceps of a celebrity bodybuilder passing through the lobby as Azhar looked on grinning.

Asked what he wants Rubina to be when she grows up, her father said: “She should be a star.”
Dinesh Dubey, a friend of the families who attended the meeting with Boyle and Colson, said he made a special plea. “I said, ‘Danny Boyle, I just have a request to you sir: In the new film just give them one role,’” Dubey said.

Colson said he and Boyle would be happy to cast the kids in a new film, as long as it doesn’t interfere with school. “Everyone can dream,” Colson said. “But it doesn’t matter if you’re Azhar or Rubina or a kid in Milwaukee: It’s a precarious dream. My advice is go to college in case it doesn’t work out.”

[From The Huffington Post]

Ugh, I hate Rubina Ali’s dad. He sounds like the worst stage father/grifter ever. With his “help” I’m sure Rubina could conceivably become the Lindsay Lohan of Bollywood. And that’s not a good thing. As for the “tough love” aspect of the trustees… well, I think they’re being harsh, but I also think these parents (especially Rubina’s dad) could use a wake-up call. While I don’t care for the “we know best” attitude of the trustees, I kind of think that they might know best. Those kids should be in school.

Here are photos of Rubina Ali in Paris on 7/1/09. Here’s the photo description from Fame Pictures: “Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali, nine, in Paris, France to launch her autobiography on July 1, 2009. These exclusive pictures are from Rubina’s personal photo album documenting her six day stay in the French capital. Her autobiography, De Mon Bidonville A Hollywood (My Slum In Hollywood), was ghostwritten by French authors Anne Berthod and Divya Dugar, and tells the story of Rubina’s journey from Mumbai’s Garib Nagar slums to the Oscars. Rubina, who played the youngest Latika in the award-winning film, devotes an entire chapter refuting a News of the World story claiming her father had tried to sell her, which she denounces as a fictitious entrapment.” Rubina and Azhar are also shown with director Danny Boyle in Mumbai on 5/27/09. Credit: BARM/Fame Pictures

Slumdog Millionaire child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and his family have finally been moved into a new apartment! This comes after months of promises from everyone involved in the film and the Jai Ho Trust that was set up to protect the children. It also comes after both Azharuddin and Rubina Ali’s slum homes were destroyed by the Indian government. Although Rubina and her family have not been moved into a new apartment yet, one of Jai Ho trustees assured the media that finding her family an apartment was at the top of their list. Personally, I think director Danny Boyle’s visit to Mumbai two weeks ago had a lot to do with it – I think he must have come in and busted some heads, making sure that the kids got new homes quickly.

The makers of the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” have bought a new home for one of the two child stars discovered in Mumbai’s slums.

The purchase of a 250-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment for the family of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, was completed Monday, said Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee a trust set up by the filmmakers to help Azharuddin and his 9-year-old co-star Rubina Ali.

“They can move in,” Mattoo told The Associated Press Wednesday, adding that the trust plans to deliver the keys Thursday.

Both children lost their homes last month when authorities demolished parts of their slum.

Mattoo said the trust is actively looking for a new home for Rubina.

Ownership of the first apartment, which cost about 2.5 million rupees ($50,000) will be transferred from the trust to Azharuddin when he turns 18, provided he completes school, Mattoo said.

“He has to complete an education. We are very clear about that,” she said. She declined to say what would happen to the property if he does not finish school.

The apartment is located in Santa Cruz West, a suburb of Mumbai just north of the slum where the two children now live.

The government has promised to give both of them new apartments, but the families have resisted, saying the government flats are too far away from their neighbors and school.

[From The Associated Press]

A one-bedroom apartment? Granted, it’s better than nothing. And better than a now-destroyed slum shack. But perhaps a two-bedroom apartment? I’m not trying to be nit-picky, I swear. This a family of four – one bedroom for the parents, one bedroom for Azharuddin Mohammed and his brother Irfan.

Also – I love that there’s an area in Mumbai known as “Santa Cruz West”. What, was the suburb originally developed for the San Fernando valley? And they just said, “Screw it, let’s take this community development project to Mumbai – but keep the name!”

Last week, it seemed the situation for the young child stars of Slumdog Millionaire was coming to a head. After the slum homes of both Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail were destroyed by the government, and Rubina Ali was hospitalized for a viral infection, many were wondering when exactly the Jai Ho Trust money and housing was supposed to kick in for these kids and their families.

That’s when Slumdog Millionaire’s Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson flew to India to meet with the kids and their families. From the pictures (sidenote: why was a press photographer there?), the kids looked beyond thrilled to see their Uncle Danny. But the Huffington Post painted a picture of the meeting that wasn’t so rosy:

The makers of “Slumdog Millionaire” met with the film’s two impoverished child stars Wednesday in Mumbai, but the father of one of the children stormed out of the meeting, saying they’ve been forgotten since the movie won eight Oscars.

Rubina Ali, 9, and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, both lost their homes this month as city authorities cleared out parts of the slum where they live.

Rubina has been staying with relatives and Azhar has been living in a makeshift shanty of tarps and blankets with his parents.

“We’ve been trying for a long time to move them into legal accommodation,” director Danny Boyle told reporters at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on the outskirts of Mumbai, where he and producer Christian Colson met the children and their families.
Boyle also said he plans to make two more films set in Mumbai.

But Rafiq Qureshi, Rubina’s father, said Boyle has not done enough.

“It has been five to six months,” Qureshi said in an interview after he cut the meeting short in anger. “Everything is available in Mumbai if you have the money. If you really want to get us a house you can get us a house in two days.”

“After the Oscars they forgot about us,” he added.

Relations between the filmmakers and the children’s families have grown tense since the phenomenal success of the film, which grossed more than $326 million.

The filmmakers set up a trust aimed at ensuring the children get proper homes, a decent education and a nest egg when they finish high school. They have pledged to spend up to $100,000 to buy the two families new apartments and donated $747,500 to a charity to help slum children across Mumbai.

Trustees did not respond to requests for comment.

[From The Huffington Post]

Look, I don’t think Danny Boyle is a bad guy, and his heart is definitely in the right place. My problem was that as the months flew by, it seemed like Boyle, Colson and the Jai Ho trustees were dithering while the kids’ lives were falling apart. It’s true that just by hiring these young actors, the Slumdog production didn’t owe the kids or the families anything beyond a paycheck for work delivered. But one of the central points of the film’s promotion was that the studio and producers were going to help these families, and they kept making those promises even as Slumdog picked up all of those Oscars. It’s great that Boyle and Colson flew to Mumbai to see first-hand what was happening, and I really hope that now that they’re there, these kids actually get what they were promised.

Thanks to Barm/Fame Pictures for these photos