azharuddinmohammedismail Tagged Articles at Cinematical
A Sad Update On the 'Slumdog Millionaire' Kids
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy »
The winds of Hollywood move at a rapid pace, quickly replacing one drama with the next. The thing is, though, the drama doesn't go away. Earlier this year, the cinematic world was buzzing over the fate of the young kids from Slumdog Millionaire. There was the culture shock between Oscar fanfare and slum life, rumors about selling Rubina Ali for profit, and the demolition of their home.
Now The Associated Press reports that the kids could lose their trust fund. It's not a case of movie people jerkitude -- it seems that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail is only going to school 37% of the time, while Rubina Ali only makes it 27% of the time. The claimed culprit: out-of-slum jetsetting. Trust administrator Noshir Dadrawala says: "They are constantly going to Paris and Cochin and Chennai. That's fine, but go over the weekend, not at the sacrifice of school." (For Ali, travel that's presumably for her many performances and memoir PR.) If their attendance doesn't improve to 70%, their monthly $120 stipend will be stopped, and they will forfeit the later lump-sum money they're set to receive. In response, Azhar's mother Shameen says these absences are due to the death of his father this September from tuberculosis: "He would cry often, so I kept him home from school for a while" -- and that she's determined to improve his attendance and get him an education.
Fan Rant: The Slumdog Situation
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Newsstand »
Step by step, this whole story gets increasingly more ridiculous and heart-breaking. We've already told you about the Slumdog Millionaire aftermath, and how young stars Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubiana Ali have struggled in their slum-filled, post-Oscars life. Then rumors popped up that Ali's dad was trying to sell her. Since then, just last week, Ismail's house was torn down and this week, MSNBC reports that Ali's has been demolished as well.Rubina told The Associated Press: "I'm feeling bad. My house had been demolished. I'm thinking about where to sleep." And where are the houses they were promised back in February?
Award-winning films are great and all, as are realism, but none of us should accept entertainment over the welfare of those involved. It's bad enough when a language void and a desire for cheap labor leads to a Borat in Romania situation, but it's incredibly worse when it involves children.
Slumdog' Kids
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," stands inside her house as it is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," holds her prayers beads and pray as her house is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," stands inside her house as it is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," walks inside her house as it is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," stands inside her house as it is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," stands inside her house as it is demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Dozens of police with bamboo batons walked around the alley where Rubina's house is located and supervised demolition crews of young men wielding sledgehammers and metal rods who tore down the shanty homes, a week after bulldozers demolished the home of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, another child star of the same film, in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
AP
Rubina Ali (C), who acted as young Latika in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire", stands with her mother Munni (L) amidst the debris after their house was demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)
Reuters
Rubina Ali (C), who acted as young Latika in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire", stands amid the debris after her house was demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)
Reuters
Rubina Ali (C), who acted as young Latika in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire", picks up a wooden plank from the debris after her house was demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)
Reuters
Munni (R), mother of Rubina Ali who played the leading lady Latika as a young child in the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire", looks at her demolished house by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)
Reuters
Sure, the rational voice in our heads can blame their parents, or make a million and two excuses. But the fact of the matter is, everyone is responsible for the welfare of children, and if you're going to use them for your own art or own gain, you best put more than five minutes thought to think how it will affect them. Think about the impact of the film, of the Oscars, the worlds they will be introduced and then ripped from -- to go back to a situation where they have no home, living a life that we'd all find unacceptable.
Don't choose them and titilate them with riches until they have, at the very least, a home that won't be bulldozed in the blazing heat. If you can't provide even that, look elsewhere.
Post-Oscars, The 'Slumdog' Kids Head Back to the Slums
Filed under: Awards », Celebrities and Controversy »
When we think of child actors, it's easy to think of rich, overly indulgent scenarios like the one Don McKellar outlined in Childstar. But that's not always the case -- especially for the tykes of Slumdog Millionaire. It only lost two of its ten Oscar nominations, but for the young Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, post-Slumdog life isn't coming up roses.
On the heel of news that the kids were getting trust funds and school funding, The Telegraph reports that they are reeling after their whirlwind taste of luxury life at the Oscars. Azhar has been suffering from a 103 temperature and vomiting since returning home, a condition which isn't helped by the fact that he doesn't have a physical home to rest in (although neighbors are trying to build a metal structure for the kid to rest in out of the sun). Meanwhile, Rubina still wears the now-stained gown she wore to the Oscars, wishing to live in America and sleep in "a proper bed and live where the air does not smell of poo."
The piece, which includes a lot of heart-breaking words from the children, points out how challenging it is for these kids to see and experience the absolute opposite of their lives, only to return to it and feel forgotten. So far, there have been no flats for the families to move to, and reports say that Azhar has even been beaten for wanting to sleep rather than talk to a journalist offering his family money.
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