You’ve probably seen this by now since it’s all over every news outlet, but Azharuddin Ismail, the kid who played young Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire, recently had his shanty torn down.  According to some reports, the same thing actually happened a few months ago, so it’s not actually that big of news, but you know these media hippies. They love a good third-world sob story.  Waaah, my one-room shack got torn down.  Waaaah, I live in the sewer.  That attitude’s the reason you’re not making the big bucks like me.

Ismail’s tarpaulin-covered home in a teeming slum was one of several shanties, illegally built along a drain, that were demolished by local authorities in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and entertainment hub. “When they came I was sleeping, they shook me awake and one policeman even threatened me,” Ismail, surrounded by half-broken suitcases filled with clothes and utensils, told Reuters. “What can I do if they have demolished my house? I will sleep out in the open.”

A poster of “Slumdog Millionaire,” signed by director Danny Boyle, fluttered from the only wall of Ismail’s shanty still standing. Open sewers run nearby and it had no running water.  [mmm, that's some good poverty porn.  You guys might wanna leave me alone for a few minutes. *fap fap fap* -Ed.]

“The shanties are all touching a drain that has to be cleaned before the advent of the monsoons,” said U.D. Mistry, the local official in charge of the demolition drive.

Just a few months ago, the filmmakers and the Indian government were literally fighting over who’d get to buy this kid a house and paying rickshaws to take him to school (I’m not making this up).  And now this.  Why, it’s almost as if Hollywood people and government of India were just full of empty promises.  Danny Boyle isn’t going to hear the end of this until he adopts the kid.  Oooh, I smell reality show!  Wait, false alarm, it’s just the sewer.

In the wake of yesterday’s believable but sketchy-sounding report that Slumdog actress Rubina Ali’s father was trying to sell her, Indian police say they’ve launched a probe into the matter.  Meanwhile, the actress’s mother and stepmother were reportedly involved in a sweaty, third-world wrestling match [adjectives added, for, uh, emphasis].

Khurshid Begum [Ali's mother] filed a complaint with Mumbai police on Sunday after News of the World’s report.
The newspaper – owned by News International Ltd., the main British subsidiary of News Corp., which also owns “Slumdog” distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures – said the father was demanding millions of rupees, worth the equivalent of $400,000. [Editor’s note: yesterday it was $300.]
“They should be punished,” Begum said after getting into a physical confrontation with Rubina’s stepmother. “No father should dare sell his daughter.”
Police took the father, Rafiq Qureshi, and Rubina from their home in a Mumbai slum to a police station where he was briefly questioned.
Speaking to reporters outside the police station Sunday, Qureshi denied the report, saying he had been lured to a fancy Mumbai hotel by someone claiming they were moved by Rubina’s story and wanted to help her.
“We had gone there to meet them in goodwill,” he said. “But they have made false allegations about me and tried to frame me.”
Qureshi said he told police he believed it could be a plot to regain custody by his ex-wife, who left several years ago, only to return and try to play a role in Rubina’s life after the film’s success.
“My children are with me, and I could give my life for them,” Qureshi said. “I will never sell them to anybody, no matter how much money they offer me.” [Variety]

This is one of those cases where I don’t know who to believe.  I wonder: would it be terribly racist to demand that they resolve this through song?

Slumdog Millionaire actor Azharrudin Mohammed famously got slapped around by his father a while back, but that’s nothing compared to Rubina Ali’s dad, who literally tried to sell his daughter to the highest bidder. Said one prospective buyer, “Quick and easy transaction, lightning-fast shipping, great kid – would ‘come again,’ lol. A++ seller.”

In a bid to escape India’s real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions of rupees worth £200,000.
As he offered the shocking deal to the News of the World’s undercover fake sheik this week, Rafiq declared: “I have to consider what’s best for me, my family and Rubina’s future.”  Rafiq tried to blame Hollywood bosses for forcing him to put his daughter up for SALE. As he tried to fix the illegal adoption deal, real-life slum dweller Rafiq declared: “We’ve got nothing out of this film.” [this despite earlier reports that the filmmakers had bought Ali's family a house and paid for her education]

Then, almost embarrassed to speak it out loud, he whispered to an accomplice the price tag he has put on his innocent young daughter: “It’s £200,000!” [$294,882]
That was an astonishing FOURFOLD increase on his opening demand. But Rafiq’s equally demanding brother Mohiuddin insisted: “The child is special now. This is NOT an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child!” [NewsoftheWorld]

The source article goes into greater detail and there’s even a video.  Bottom line, it sounds pretty bad, but being that Rubina Ali currently lives in a Mumbai slum with a father who wants to sell her, there’s a decent chance getting adopted would actually be better for her. I also like how in the video, the British reporter keeps trying to say her name, but the way they pronounce it over there, it sounds like “Ru Beaner.”  It’s like she’s a Mexican drag queen or something.

Man, the Slumpuppies‘ lives keep sounding better and better.

“Slumdog Millionaire” child star Azharuddin Mohammad (left) reportedly was beaten by his father Friday just days after attending the Oscars.
His father, Ismail Mohammad, got enraged when his son tried to avoid media in front the family’s home in the Dharavi slum.
He punched Azharuddin’s face and kicked him while the child cried and covered his face in pain.
The boy’s mother looked on in horror, crying out to her husband to stop, but the elder Mohammad kept delivering the punishing blows until his son fled.
“Azharuddin’s father was upset that he was asking to be left alone because he was tired,” an onlooker said. “It was like a scene out of ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’”
The father apologized after the incident became public, saying he was “very sorry.”
“I was so confused and stressed by my son’s homecoming that I did not know myself for a minute,” he told the Sun. “I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home,” he said. [NYDailyNews]

What a f-cking dick.  Guy’s kid does one movie and he’s already acting like a stage parent.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson recently told the press that their youngest and poorest stars, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, will be moved into apartments worth about $29,000.  With their families.  Not with each other, that would be weird.  Well, probably not as weird in India.  I imagine.

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.’

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.

“It was always my dream to force a poor toothless beggar to sew my soccer balls,” I imagined Ismail saying.

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.

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 [Editor's note: No they didn't.] These children are special and have won laurels for the country and we want to felicitate them.’

Read the rest of this entry »