Culture

Mother of ‘Slumdog’ child celebrates Oscar haul in Mumbai

by Sanjay Jha | February 23, 2009 at 01:32 am

322 views | 6 Recommendations | 3 comments

Attending the Oscars is a huge achievement for a nine-year-old Rubina Ali. However, at 12 am yesterday night, one of the Slumdog stars Rubina Ali (9) called her family from Los Angeles feeling homesick and wanting to come home soon.

Rubina, who has never been away from her family, was craving for some homemade food. Munni (28), Rubina's mother said, "Rubina is missing all of us. She wants to come home soon and eat homemade food. She told us they have been kept in a room with high security. When she called, she was leaving to go shopping for her Oscar outfit."

Not only the families of Slumdog Millionaire child stars Rubina and Mohammed Azharuddin Ismail, but the entire neighbourhod didn't sleep a wink to catch the Oscars live this morning. Though Rubina's sister Sana (13) and brothers Abbas (7) and Irfan (8) were asleep, her brother Babu (10) was awake with the excitement.

The mother of one of the ‘Slumdog’ child actors celebrated on Monday the film's eight Oscars from her home in an Indian shantytown, where relatives and neighbours had gathered to watch the awards ceremony on television.

"I'm so happy that my daughter has won this award and I could see her on stage with such big stars," said Muni Qureshi, mother of 8-year-old Rubina Ali, who played the young slum kid Latika in the film.

Ali, along with other child actors in the film, was flown to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and she appeared on stage after the film's best motion picture award was announced.

The film has generated controversy in India, where some people find its name, and depiction of poverty, insulting.

But Qureshi, who lives with her daughter and the rest of the family in a ramshackle home with no running water in Mumbai's Garib Nagar slum, defended the film.

"I know that this film has been criticised for showcasing poverty. But it has also meant that a girl from the slums of Mumbai who could not even imagine that she would go abroad has reached the Oscars, so how can that be bad?" she said.

The rags-to-riches romance ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ scooped up eight Oscars, the most of any movie this year, including best motion picture.

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Fred Miller

at 12:02 on February 23rd, 2009

Related links from my personal Blog regarding the real-life rags-to-riches story of Resul Pookutty who completed his film studies in my hometown of Pune, India and won the Oscar for Sound this year.

Pythiian1

at 21:43 on February 23rd, 2009

I'm glad that the children were acknowledged and had a chance to see how people like them.

I think it would be fairer if the director and distributors woudl do something to help the children's families, given how much the movie has made.

droidmedia

at 14:18 on February 24th, 2009

I'm happy these kids got the recognition they deserve. Not that it was ever being denied to them. As for all the payment 'controvesy', well, Danny Boyle put that to rights with his words to the BBC. As I always suspected, backstabbers are everywhere and love to pull down the success and talents of others.

A lot had been said about 'poverty porn' and that depicting the slums and life there was cashing in on others misery and hardships. Seems to me it's brought light to the desperate situations of many, not just in India, but across the world. Slumdog certainly makes a change to the usual Hollywood glorification of murder, violence, power, sex and greed... that's the kind of mindless rubbish that our kids are growing up with! I'm not saying the movie does not have violence etc in it, it's just not glorified in such a way.

For anyone who has been to Mumbai or any other part of India the poverty is hard to ignore. It's everywhere and it is in your face. That is the reality. I love the country and everything it has to offer, I take the good with the bad like any other place. If a movie focused on the ghettos of NewYork, for example, do you think anyone would bat an eyelid?