Slumdog Child Star Finally Gets New Home

MUMBAI, India — One of the impoverished child stars from "Slumdog Millionaire" will move from his shanty home in one of Mumbai's more wretched slums into a new apartment next week, his mother said Sunday.

"On Friday we got the keys," said Shameem Ismail, the mother of child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who played the young Salim in the Oscar-winning hit.

The family started moving in over the weekend, bringing pots and pans, a television set, and their birdcage. They plan to fully relocate by Tuesday, she said.

Both Azhar and his co-star Rubina Ali lost their homes in May after civic authorities demolished parts of the slum where they lived.

Within days of the demolition, Azhar's family rebuilt their home _ a shanty of corrugated metal, wood, and blankets, meager protection against the pounding monsoon rains sweeping across Mumbai.

But the filmmakers bought Azhar a 250-square foot (23 square-meter) one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor of a building in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Mumbai, not far from where he now lives and attends school.

The $50,000 apartment will be transferred to Azhar's name when he turns 18, provided he finishes school, said Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee the Jai Ho trust set up by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson. The fund is meant to secure an education, housing and a living allowance for the two children.

Mattoo said Sunday that the trust is still looking for an apartment for Rubina, who has lived with relatives in the slum since the demolition.

"Slumdog Millionaire" has grossed over $350 million worldwide.

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Additional reporting by Manish Mehta in Mumbai.

Comments

[patnb]

Disgraceful. This film earned hundreds of millons of dollars and these children are just now getting a safe place to live? They are still looking for a home for one of the children? How long does it take to find a house? Only $50,000?? Ridiculous.

I understand they need to protect the children from having their movie payments stolen by relatives, scammers and others but BOTH children should be a homes NOW and have a very, very large paycheck in a bank ready for them when they are 18.

[thelipstickfemme]

This is aserious rip off. 250sq feet for $50k in India. Pleeeeeezeeee. They should be ashamed to ask that kind of money for a small studio sized home.

I live in a 800 sq foot studio and that is till to small for me. Gosh, I can only imagine the small quarters for a family of 3 of 4 living there. One bedroom tiny tiny bedroom. I wonder what condition the house is in?

[Katie5]

I'm glad they got a home.I was worried and concerned.

[bosha]

It's just horrible how the movie producers exploited these kids to make a couple of million of dollars and won Oscars. i would have never paid my money to see 'Slumdog Millionaire" if I had known how they were going to treat these kids. America should be blamed for this as well.

[The Ghost]

India should be ashamed. This has nothing to do with Hollywood or America.

[caramel27]

Why should India be ashamed?? This certainly has nothing to do with America considering no Americans were involved in the movie. Danny Boyle is British. Why are we blaming entire countries anyway? The point of this whole story is that the children should have been housed and been taken care of much better and faster than they were. This is on the people involved in the production of this movie. You would think more people would have been invested in ensuring the well-being of these children...

[montecarlo408]

You want to see living arrangements just as rough? Come to Baton Rouge, on the west side of LSU, right next to their luxirius stadium, less than a mile from luxury townhomes and condos with concierge and in house restaurants. It's hard to believe that people live like that in America. I'm sure that there are places just like the one in my town all over America.

[silencer]

They were not exploited. They were paid rates that equaled more than a year's salary, given free education through a trust fund AND the director BOUGHT them both a HOUSE out of his own pocket.
It's unheard of.

It amazes me how you can blame a nation's economy on a motion picture company.

[brooklyncitizen]

Two hundred fifty sq. ft?
How big is his family? THat is teeny....specially for $42K.

[trying2help]

Where is the other child star?

[hey0there]

she got an H1B "fashion model" visa and is now working in the US

[Janice Rawlins]

I am so glad for that poor child to finally have a home, they deserve it. It was sad enough about their real life and now hopefully they will have a better life.. so happy for them.....happy can not even express my feelings for them.

[ttyy]

The trust did this as fast as they could without shortchanging the child. If they didn't resolve the legal matters the parents would have stolen everything. Now the home is going to be held in trust for the boy when he turns 18.

They are now purchasing a home for the girl.

[LiberalBuzz]

Good start, now where is the little girl living?

[ttyy]

What have you done for a third world child, LiberalBuzz?

[LiberalBuzz]

Other than donate, nothing personally. I do do work as a volunteer several times a year at a shelter though. Not as much as I wish I could because I get upset when I am there to long because there are so many of our own that need help and I can only wish we could do more. Too many families without homes which means TOO MANY CHILDREN living in shelters, campgrounds and cars.

But I do something.

[george389]

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