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Slum kids head for Hollywood
Kiran Randhawa20.02.09
SLUMDOG Millionaire's child stars are finally on their way to the Oscars.
Today one of them told of her excitement after initially being denied the chance to walk the red carpet at Sunday's ceremony.
Speaking as she set off from her home in the slums of Mumbai, Rubina Ali said she was looking forward to taking "a lot of pictures" when she gets to Hollywood.
The nine-year-old - who plays Latika, the character later played by Freida Pinto - is one of two child stars initially stopped by their parents from travelling to Los Angeles after they claimed the children were exploited and underpaid by the film-makers.
"I'm very happy that I'm going to the Oscars," Rubina said. "My friends are saying, 'your fate is so good."'
Rubina added: "I'm going to go and take a lot of pictures and show them to people over here." She will be joining her co-stars Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, who plays the lead character's brother Salim, and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who plays lead character Jamal, and the rest of the cast, including other child stars.
The rags-to-riches story, which has grossed £70million worldwide, has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Danny Boyle. All of the children are being flown to Los Angeles and put up in a five-star hotel for two days.
Azharuddin and Rubina were denied permission to attend the awards earlier this month by their parents after a clash over money.
Both are still living in squalor in Mumbai despite assurances from Boyle that they were paid well. Azharuddin's home, in the Behrampada shanty area, where rats crawl around in daylight and sewage runs untreated, is made of blankets and tarpaulins. His mother, Shameem, who will travel with him, is blind in one eye and his father Mohammed brings in 1,500 to 3,000 rupees (£20-£40) a month selling scrap wood. But he has tuberculosis and often cannot walk.
All the children received the same amount for 30 days of filming - the equivalent of a monthly salary payment for the production company's senior staff in Britain - but it has already gone. Boyle and Christian Colson, the producer, said they thought it would be irresponsible to pay the children large sums which might be taken by relatives or others, and resolved to ensure the children get a good education and then pay them a "substantial amount" when they reached 18.
