‘Slumdog’ child stars yet to breathe ‘Million’ air

By Gopal Ethiraj from Chennai


MUMBAI; 23 May, (asiantribune.com): ‘Slumdogs’ don’t make it to Millians; maybe one ‘slumdog’ out of millians go millionaire. In films, it is possible; in reality making few bucks is sure. Being exploited, is more than sure. But the makers of ``Slumdog Millionaire'' sure made millions with the film. The child stars who fetched them millions are not on their ‘pillions’ yet.

The child stars of ``Slumdog Millionaire'' which won eight Oscars and brought in more than US$326 million for its makers, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, are still underdogs. Both of them are in the streets now.

The success of ``Slumdog Millionaire'' has done little so far to improve the lives of the film's two impoverished child stars. The shanty slum house of Rubina Ali was torn down by Mumbai authorities a few days back as they demolished part of the slum where she lived.

Dozens of police with bamboo batons patrolling the lane where Rubina's house was located, the corporation workers wielding sledgehammers and metal rods tore down the shanty homes.

The stepmother of 9-year-old Rubina Ali, who played the film's heroine Latika in the Oscar-winning film, Munni Qureshi said her husband was beaten up by police who were supervising the demolition. She said he was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. ``How can they do it without giving us notice,'' Qureshi asked, as she wept and wept.

``I'm feeling bad,'' Rubina said. ``My house has been demolished. I'm thinking about where to sleep,'' she said after the demolition was over, standing amidst the debris.

A week before bulldozers demolished the house of child star Azhar, who played as Salim in the film, in a similar cleanup drive as part of pre-monsoon drive. He lived in a different part of the same slum. “There is no point protesting. We will continue staying as we used to be,” he said.

Both the demolitions were telecast on all electronic media, and all print media published them. For they are celebrities now. They caught the media attention, things should improve around them.

Rubina and Azhar were discovered on the Mumbai streets by the film-makers and cast them in the film. Whereas, the film's adult stars, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, have since shot to international fame. May be their purses fattened. The lives of the two poor child stars, who live in the slum called Garib Nagar (the town of the poor), haven't changed much so far.