The family of Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali, 12, have lost all their worldly possessions after a fire destroyed their very meager home in a slum of Mumbai. Over 2,000 people were left homeless by the fire and at least 12 were injured. Rubina issued a statement that she’s lost everything, and told CNN that “my awards are gone, my memories are gone.” This begs the question as to why this girl was still living in a slum two years after Slumdog won the Oscar and over a year and a half after her co-star, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, was moved to a one bedroom apartment with his brother and parents through a trust set up by producers.

According to an administrator of the trust, they were just a month away from putting Rubina and her family in an apartment, but the water and electricity needed to be installed first. Let’s get this straight – Rubina’s costar Azhar was given an apartment in June, 2009, and it took until March, 2011 and a fire in the slum for the trust to get around to securing an apartment for Rubina’s family. This same thing scenario when Azhar got his apartment too: there was a lot of press surrounding the fact that the Indian government had destroyed Rubina and Azhar’s homes, and then the trust announced with much fanfare that Azhar’s family was getting an apartment. It looks like they “forgot” about Rubina until right after her home was destroyed again.

Slumdog Millionaire” child star Rubina Ali says her home was gutted by a fire that tore through her Mumbai slum.

“There was fire everywhere, there was so much chaos, my house was completely burned down, the whole slum was burned down,” Rubina told CNN on Sunday.

The 12-year old said she was watching TV Friday when her neighbors started yelling “fire, fire!”

She then grabbed everything she could get her hands on and ran out. “But my awards are gone, my memories are gone,” she said.

Ali was referring to the numerous awards she received for her role as the young Latika in the critically acclaimed film that nabbed multiple Academy Awards..

Rubina said the her family is now living in a temporary shelter. Rubina’s father Rafiq Qureshi said they plan to move into a new home provided by a trust set up by the film’s director Danny Boyle next month.

“They were in transit. They were just about to move to an apartment the Jai Ho Trust has allotted for them,” said trustee Nirja Mattoo said. “But as the building is new, they were waiting for the water and electricity to be installed. But unfortunately this incident happened.”

Mattoo confirmed Rubina and the family were still residing in the Garib Nagar slum when the fire broke out.

“Our social worker has been meeting Rubina and her family and assessing the situation,” Mattoo said. “They lost everything except for an LCD TV and some clothes.”

Rubina said she is grateful for the support she and her family have been receiving from the trust.

[From CNN via Popeater]

I get that this issue is complicated, and that there are many more people involved than just these children. Producers may have a legitimate fear that by lifting one family out of poverty they’ll be exploited by friends and other family desperate to leave the slums. In Rubina’s case her father and uncles were caught in a sting operation by News of The World offering to sell her. Still, this little girl has suffered so much. She was even hospitalized for a viral infection in May, 2009 and still had to return to the slum where she still lived afterwards. News reports at the time showed her living in a tin shack.

There’s a trust set up for the children by producers for an unknown amount that they will allegedly have access to if they finish high school. (The trust fund administrators have complained that the children have been skipping school to attend events however.) In the mean time their families receive $130 a month along with $3000 a year. Slumdog Millionaire grossed about $378 million worldwide.

It’s worth noting that there were more than just two child actors in that film but all the reports I’ve read focus on Azhar and Rubina. I hope that producers are making sure that the other child actors have a meager stipend and a trust fund to look forward to, but given the way they’ve treated Rubina so far that’s doubtful.

Danny Boyle is shown with Rubina Ali, Azhar Ismail and some of the other child stars of Slumdog in May, 2009 and October, 2009. Credit: Fame Pictures. They’re also shown at the Oscars in February, 2009. Credit: WENN

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

After the destruction of the slum homes of Slumdog Millionaire child stars Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail in the past two weeks, many are starting to ask serious questions to a number of people. First, the Indian local and federal governments’ positions on slum destruction is being questioned. Secondly, the people involved with running the Jai Ho Trust (the trust set up by Slumdog Millionaire’s producers) are being questioned about why it’s taking so long to get these families an apartment, or at least some place stable to live. To make matters worse, Rubina Ali was recently hospitalized for a viral infection. After she was released, she went to her uncle’s home – the uncle that allegedly tried to sell her. Now more details are coming out about the trustees plans for these child actors – including a yearly stipend of $3000. Per family.

The search for new homes for two impoverished child stars from the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” has intensified, as one child fell sick days after city authorities demolished the shanty where she lived, family members said.

Nine-year-old Rubina Ali came down with a fever Friday and spent a few hours in a local hospital, they said.

“I’m fine now, but I feel tired,” Rubina said Saturday as she lay in bed, resting at her uncle’s house.

Rubina’s block was razed Wednesday to make way for a planned pedestrian overpass at a commuter train station in Mumbai. Last week, co-star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail’s home was demolished, part of a pre-monsoon slum clearance drive.

Rubina and her parents have been staying with relatives. Azhar, 10, and his family have tied tarpaulins and blankets around a thin wood frame for shelter in the Garib Nagar – “city of the poor” – slum where both families live.

After the runaway success of their film, “Slumdog” director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson set up the Jai Ho trust to ensure the children receive proper homes, a decent education and a nest egg when they finish high school. They have also donated $747,500 to a charity to help slum children in Mumbai.

The filmmakers have agreed to raise the amount of money they will spend on new apartments for each family from $30,000 to $50,000, a Jai Ho trustee and Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi, both told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Family members had worried that $30,000 would not be enough to secure decent housing in Mumbai’s pricey real estate market. In addition, the filmmakers have agreed to give each family a stipend of $130 a month and a lump sum of $3,000 a year to support the children while they are in school, the trustee and Qureshi said.

That is substantially more than any of their neighbors in Garib Nagar make, where many bring home $4 a day as auto rickshaw drivers and maids.

“We are trying our best to finalize things as soon as possible,” Jai Ho trustee Nirja Mattoo said Saturday. She said representatives of the trust took Azhar’s family to look at a few nearby apartments earlier this week.

City authorities have also promised the children and some of their neighbors new homes. The state’s top politician, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, told the Mumbai Mirror that he would expedite the process now that national elections are over.

“The elections delayed the process, but very soon we will allot them flats,” he was quoted as saying.

Slum demolitions are common in India’s cramped cities, and government promises to resettle slum-dwellers often come to nothing. Even when slum-dwellers are given housing, it is often in poor-quality buildings on the outskirts of cities, far from jobs.

[From The Huffington Post]

So, basically, it seems like everyone from the Jai Ho trustees to the Indian officials are too busy giving quotes to various media outlets to actually rent a couple of apartments for these kids. It’s all a bunch of “we’re going to do this” and “no, I said I was going to do that” and meanwhile, five months have passed and these kids are worse off than they were before. And here’s a note to the Jai Ho trustees – a $130 monthly stipend and a $3000 yearly lump sum payment may seem generous to people who live in slums, but it really isn’t that much. Even for India, where stuff is still really cheap. Everything is getting more expensive (inflation, taxes, importation) now that there’s an actual Indian middle class who are consistent consumers. Somebody, please, man up and help these kids. It’s past time.

Rubina Ali is shown watching with her family as her home is destroyed and later at the hospital, where she had to wait in the hall to be seen. She is shown being comforted by her aunt. Credit: BARM/Fame Pictures

At nine years old, Rubina Ali has already lived an extremely complicated life. Ali is one of the Mumbai slum-dwelling children cast in what would become the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, but her burgeoning film career is the only bright spot in her life. The Associated Press (story via US Weekly) is reporting that the slum home Rubina Ali shares with her father and her step-mother has been demolished by the government. Much like Rubina’s costar Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail’s home was destroyed last week.

To catch up, yes Rubina Ali is the same little girl that The News of the World alleged was being sold off by her father and her uncle. After an investigation by the Indian authorities, Rubina’s father was not charged. Rahim Shaikh, the senior police inspector in Mumbai area where Rubina’s family lived, told the press “There is not any crime. The matter is closed… No money changed hands. Rubina is here.” After that, Rubina still lives with him. Or she did before their home was destroyed.

Less than a week after the Mumbai slum home of one Slumdog Millionaire child star was demolished, the home of another’s was torn down, the Associated Press reports.

Rubina Ali lost her home Wednesday when Mumbai authorities demolished part of a city slum where she lived with her stepmother and father.

Munni Qureshi — the stepmother of 9-year-old Rubina — said her husband was beaten by police who were supervising the demolition. She said he was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley near where their house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men, who used sledgehammers and metal rods to tear down the homes.

“I’m feeling bad,” Rubina told The Associated Press. “My house had been demolished. I’m thinking about where to sleep.”

Rubina’s costar in the Oscar-winning film, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, lost his home last Thursday after it too was demolished by city authorities.

The 10-year-old boy was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family’s home, he said. Shortly after that, the shack — among the 30 shanties on land that was owned by the government — were destroyed.

Officials — who insist only illegally built shanties were bulldozed — tell the AP that Azhar’s family will be given a new home elsewhere.

Slumdog producers have said that they’ve done their best to help out the film’s struggling young stars. They donated $742,000 to set up a five-year, healthcare and education program for the children. They also have created the Jai Ho Trust.

[From US Weekly]

The destruction of slum homes is nothing new in Mumbai, and the only surprise to me is that none of the Slumdog Millionaire children have been moved into the apartments they were promised. The producers announced The Jai Ho Trust, with money being given to the child stars’ families specifically for housing, health care and education. Allegedly, a social worker in India was even hired to oversee the trust and the welfare of the children. What in the world is going on?

Here are photos of Azhar after his home was destroyed. Rubina is shown signing autographs on 5/15/09. Credit: BARM/Fame Pictures. Header photo of Rubina and Azhar at the Oscars credit: WENN.com

This story is pretty much too depressing to report on, but here we go. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, the young boy who starred in Slumdog Millionaire as the young Dev Patel, has just had his family “home” destroyed by the Indian government. The home consisted of a miniscule shack in the slums of Mumbai, and it was one of dozens of homes demolished by the government.

As Mumbai builds up and becomes a more economically progressive city, the local and national government is taking back a lot of land that many slum dwellers are, in effect, squatting on. The slum dwellers don’t own the land, and it hasn’t been given to them by the government, they simply lived on the land for so many years because no one really wanted to develop it commercially. That’s not the case anymore, as urban sprawl expands Mumbai’s city lines. I’m not saying it’s right or that I understand, I’m just saying this is what has happened.

Perhaps the worst part of the systematic destruction of the slums is that the slum dwellers are often given little to no notice. Such was the case for Azhar’s family. The Associated Press/Huffington Post is reporting that police officers began removing the slum dwellers from their shanties while little Azhar was still asleep. His family was simply told to pick up and leave, and his home was destroyed within hours:

MUMBAI, India — City workers bulldozed the home of a “Slumdog Millionaire” child star Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family’s home, he said. Shortly after that, the shack and about 30 more were destroyed.

“A police officer took a bamboo stick to hit me, and I was frightened,” said 10-year-old Azhar.

Authorities say his family will be given a new home elsewhere.

Eight Oscars and $326 million in box office receipts have so far done little to improve the lives of the film’s two impoverished child stars, Azhar and Rubina Ali – who were plucked from the slum to star in the blockbuster.

They have been showered with gifts and brief bursts of fame, but their day-to-day lives are little changed. Thursday morning, city workers flanked by policemen arrived as part of a slum demolition drive – common in India’s chaotic cities, where officials struggle to keep crowding under control.

“They didn’t give prior notice. We didn’t even get a chance to take out our belongings,” said Shameem Ismail, Azhar’s mother, who has lived in the shanty town for more than 15 years. She has no legal right to the land.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said, sitting on a bed she had dragged from the wreckage. Next to her was a plastic bag stuffed with belongings.

U.D. Mistry, an official with the city’s Bombay Municipal Corporation, said the razing was part of a “pre-monsoon demolition drive. He said only illegally built shanties – not homes that were legally owned – were bulldozed.

“They were removed. That is the principle,” he said, adding he was not aware that the child star lived in that slum.

“Slumdog” filmmakers say they’ve done their best to help the young stars. They set up a trust, called Jai Ho, after the hit song from the film, to ensure the children get proper homes, a good education and a nest egg when they finish high school. They also donated $747,500 to a charity to help slum kids in Mumbai.

Producer Christian Colson has described the trust as substantial, but won’t tell anyone how much it contains – not even the parents – for fear of making the children vulnerable to exploitation.

[From Huffington Post]

Hopefully Azhar and his family will get to move into their new home sometime soon. If not, there’s not going to be a point in having these Jai Ho trusts set up for their education, because Azhar’s family will either be in the wind or dead.

In 2007, National Geographic did an extensive issue on the changing face of India, and they included a really great article about the issues surrounding the Mumbai slums. The destruction of the slums isn’t something that has just happened this year, the Indian government (under Prime Minister Singh) has been “removing” slum dwellers and slums for years. What the NatGeo article points out is that the slum residents are a political bloc – many of them vote, and they are a demographic worth winning.

Photo credit: BARM/Fame Pictures

Last week, we reported on Gerard Butler’s booty call to India – all to woo 26-year-old Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. The initial reporting out of India seemed to indicate that Gerard might be mixing business with pleasure, as he was not only seen spending time with Priyanka, but there were rumors he was scouting locations for a to-be-announced film.

Gerard is still in India, and now all indications are that he’s solely focused on Priyanka, that lucky bitch. He’s not only spending time with her, but he also organized a little mini-holiday for the child actors of Slumdog Millionaire. This is just the kind of reporting that I would normally think “what a crock”. But there are pictures! Gerard hanging out with these adorable kids.

Slumdog Millionaire’s child stars were given a day out at a five star hotel courtesy of Scottish actor Gerard Butler and looked on as the star of 300 attempted to wooh Bollywood’s top celebrity Priyanka Chopra.

The kids as well as Azhar and Rubina first met Butler at the Oscars in February 2009. He is said to have fallen for their innocence and charm, but it was another Indian actor, 26-year-old Chopra, who really caught the Scottish actor’s eye.

Last night Chopra had thrown a party for Butler, who is in India on holiday. A guest at the party said Butler is “besotted” with Chopra and repeatedly asked her to marry him, until police broke up the bash for being too noisy.

“He was completely smitten with Priyanka,” the source said. “He kept proposing to her every half an hour, getting down on his knee. Every time, she burst out laughing.”

Chopra also caught Richard Branson’s eye last year in Dubai, where he told her: “You’re the only woman worthy of being called a goddess. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

[From Fame Pictures/BARM]

“He kept proposing to her every half hour, getting down on his knee.” Get off my boyfriend, Priyanka! In any case, now I have new Gerard Butler fantasy, one in which he’s begging me to marry him every thirty minutes as we’re surrounded by the lovely Slumdog Millionaire children. Swoon!

Here’s my question: is Gerard Butler hanging out with the Slumdog Millionaire kids because he thinks they’re little sweethearts, and he wanted to hang out? Is his heart that big? Or is this just a maneuver to win Priyanka Chopra, trying to show her that he’ll do anything to win her heart? I know that I’m very biased about Gerard, but I really think he just wanted to hang out with the cool Slumdog Millionaire kids.

Slumdog Millionaire’s producers have announced that through the Jai Ho Trust set up to finance the child actors’ housing and education, a social worker will be hired to oversee weekly, perhaps daily monitoring of the children’s welfare. Although Rubina Ali’s father Rafiq still denies that he tried to sell his daughter, the Indian authorities have arrested him and are investigating the entire situation. Rubina’s mother was the one to report Rafiq, and she and Rafiq’s new wife (Rubina’s step-mother) got into a physical confrontation on Monday, as the news broke internationally. TMZ has footage of the fight.

The Jai Ho Trust has already been set up in India, with what I suspect are Indian trustees who can monitor the children’s welfare regularly. Hiring a social worker is a good idea, and one of Slumdog’s producer’s has issued a statement saying that he hopes the trust can work with the families for the children’s best interests.

After news broke that the father of Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali reportedly offered to sell his 9-year-old daughter for nearly $300,000, the film’s producers told Usmagazine.com that they have hired a social worker to look after her.

Rubina’s dad, Rafiq Qureshi, denies these claims but has reportedly admitted to being broke. Although he said he was left with “nothing” from the Oscar-winning flick, the Jai Ho Trust was established with financial support from the filmmakers to ensure the welfare of the movie’s child stars, including Rubina and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail.

“Both Danny [Boyle, the director] and I remain committed to working the trust and the family to secure Rubina’s long-term best interests,” Slumdog producer Christian Colson told Us in a statement Tuesday.

One of the Jai Ho trustees, Noshir H. Dadrawala, said that “the trust will support Rubina, her parents and responsible authorities to ensure that the rights and best interests of Rubina” are protected.

“The trust is in regular contact with Rubina Ali and her family and has hired a social worker to assist in looking after her welfare and that of her co-star,” Dadrawala said in a statement.

In addition to providing a trained social worker hired by Jai Ho Trust to periodically counsel the children and the family, the independent trust is also set up to ensure that the family of the child star receives suitable accommodations and a fixed sum of money each month for living expenses. It also covers the education costs for Rubina and her siblings and provides her with a lump sum of money after she turns 18 years old.

“Danny and I both fully support Mr. Dadrawala’s comments,” Colson told Us.

On Monday, after reporters posed as a wealthy Middle Eastern family interested in buying a girl, Britain’s News of the World reported that Rubina was originally being sold for $75,000, but her father raised the price after the success of Slumdog.

[From US Magazine]

What is left to say about this? It’s a sad commentary on celebrity, parental responsibility, success, poverty, and much, much more. I don’t think the Jai Trust is going to guarantee that Rubina grows up an emotionally and physically healthy young woman, but it will help a lot. It shouldn’t be Danny Boyle’s or the trustees’ responsibility to act “en loco parentis” (in place of a parent) for the welfare of these children, but that’s looking like the best possible option at this point.

Here are Rubina Ali and Azzharruddin Ismail walking the catwalk for the Ashima Leena fashion show during Indian fashion week in New Delhi on March 19th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

Rafiq Qureshi, father of Slumdog Millionaire Rubina Ali, was arrested in Mumbai after allegations that he and Rubina’s uncles tried to sell the little girl to a Middle Eastern family. Rubina’s mother reported a complaint to Mumbai authorities, but Rufiq is still standing by his denials.

By the reports coming out, it seems like Rubina’s uncle was the main negotiator for Rubina’s sale. First offering the child for £50,000, than quadrupling the amount as negotiations continued. Rafiq continues to claim that he thought Rubina was up for some kind of job, and they were negotiating the price for work. The Daily Mail has more:

The father of a child actress in the film Slumdog Millionaire has been arrested over allegations that he offered to sell her for £200,000. Rafiq Qureshi, who lives in poverty in Mumbai, reportedly attempted to trade nine-year-old Rubina Ali in an illegal adoption deal.

Rubina played the young heroine Letika in the movie, which has grossed £185million worldwide and swept the board at the Oscars. Qureshi is said to have been arrested after a complaint was made by the girl’s mother.

He has dismissed the allegations and insists he is being framed. He said: ‘These reports are not true. I went to the hotel to shoot an ad film. I would never sell my daughter.’

It had been hoped that the film’s success would transform Rubina’s life. But her father and an uncle were said to have claimed that they are being forced to put her up for sale because the family has not received enough of the proceeds.

They were accused of using her fame as a bargaining tool to push up the price they can get for her – first asking £50,000 and later quadrupling the amount. The uncle, Moihuddin Qureshi, was said to have told an undercover reporter: ‘The child is special now. This is not an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child.’

The claims were made following a ‘sting’ operation by the News of the World, which said it had been alerted that the child was for sale in a tip-off from a former family neighbour.

It was reported that the little girl, her father and uncles all went to a hotel to meet the ‘prospective buyers’, supposedly a family from Dubai, to discuss the deal in detail. A source close to the family told the Daily Mail: ‘Rafiq was told to bring Rubina to the hotel, where a rich man wanted to discuss a job with him.’

‘He happily agreed because Rubina can earn good money since her Slumdog success. She has had many movie offers. Rafiq didn’t understand everything that was being said to him but he was happy to discuss money for a well-paying job for his daughter. He loves her like any father loves his daughter.’

According to the News of the World, Mr Qureshi is desperate to make the most of his daughter’s success and get them out of their hut in the Mumbai slum known as Poor Man’s Colony. It claimed he had already been approached by a family from Dubai, but was hoping to start a bidding war.

Rafiq allegedly directed a reporter to his brother-in-law Rajan More, who said: ‘Rubina’s life is miserable. Obviously if you wanted to adopt, we could discuss this, but her parents would expect some proper compensation return. We are talking around £50,000 for this to happen.’

Later Rafiq added: ‘Whatever money you have agreed with Rajan, I will accept. There is a lot of interest in Rubina – she has become very famous.’

Trafficking of poor children from across the Asian sub continent has become an increasing problem. Some are sold to the Middle East where they are forced to risk their lives as camel jockeys or subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse.

The shack that Rubina calls home is yards from an open sewer. There was an outcry after pictures emerged of her and co-star Azharuddin Mohammed, who played the young Salim, living in squalor despite the film’s success. Both families have consistently complained that the filmmakers have abandoned them to their fate.

Producer Christian Colson told the Daily Mail last night: ‘We have friends and colleagues in Bombay who are trying to speak with Mr Qureshi to get to the bottom of what happened. Her family is under a lot of pressure.’

He and director Danny Boyle are planning next month to visit the young stars, who were plucked off the street for auditions to star in the film. Mr Colson added: ‘Danny and I are committed to Rubina and Azharuddin for the long term. We are trying to keep a roof over their heads, and keep them in school until they are 18. The problem is there are a lot of parties who are telling the parents different things.’

‘We agreed to buy apartments a couple of months ago but that process stalled because they decided they wanted the money up front instead. In the past few days we have got things back on track, and are now back looking at apartments.’

The film makers have set up a trust to give a lump sum to each child when they are 18. Properties will also be placed in trust, with ownership released to the parents only when the children turn 18 and have completed their education.

Mr Colson added: ‘We can’t buy the properties outright and give them to them, because in all honesty they will sell them.’

[From The Daily Mail]

So why hasn’t the uncle been arrested? He seems to be the one doing the netotiations for the sale. And, logically, why would a father want to sell a daughter who will have a stellar, long-lasting career? And why doesn’t Rubina’s mother seek full custody of her daughter? There are some big holes in the story, and the whole situation is just… sad. There are a lot of coulda, woulda, shouldas, and I’m sure the comments will reveal a lot strong opinions, so I’ll just stay out of it.

Rubina Ali is shown with her father (on her left) in Mumbai on 2/26/09. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .