Filmmaker promises new homes
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle arrived in Mumbai yesterday to meet with Rubina Ali, 9, and Azharuddin Ismail, 10, after their makeshift homes in the city's slums were bulldozed by the Mumbai municipal authorities to make way for a railway station.
Boyle reassured the kids that they will soon have new homes. “We are here to see the children get good, legal accommodation,” said the 53-year-old filmmaker, who along with film producer Christian Colson met the children and their families at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on the outskirts of Mumbai.
"We've been trying for a long time to move them into legal accommodation," Boyle told reporters.
He said a flat has been bought for Ismail, who played young Salim in the movie, and promised a second home would soon be bought for Ali as well, who was Salim's onscreen friend Latika.
Boyle and Colson have set up a trust, Jai Ho Trust, to ensure the children get secure homes, a good education and a “nest egg” when they finish high school.
Boyle said: "I have seen their homes being knocked down and that has upset me a great deal. They have never been far from my thoughts. It is only now that the trust has been able to put in place a workable plan."
Colson added: "We have been trying to accelerate the process of re-housing the families, and one of the reasons we set up the trust is to deal with emergencies like this."
Jai Ho Trust buys flat for Ismail
A spokesperson for the trust said Ismail’s new apartment was "comfortable, in a good neighbourhood [and] near his school".
“We have allotted Rs 25 lakh for each of the homes that will be given to the two families within 10 days. Azhar’s home is ready with paperwork pending. Rubina’s will be done soon. Both will be in Bandra and both families will own the houses,” said Nirja Mattoo, a trustee.
Earlier this month, the Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika’s (formerly the Bombay Municipal Corporation or BMC) workers demolished the kids’ shanty houses built near train tracks in the Gareeb Nagar slum in Bandra, a Mumbai suburb.
Soon after the clean-up drive, the pictures of Rubina and Ismail standing in the rubble of their homes had started circulating all over the Internet, prompting many to criticize Boyle for not doing enough to help the poor kids who were part of the “Slumdog Millionaire”, a film that has brought worldwide acclaim to the makers and its lead actors.
Rubina’s father still not impressed
Meanwhile, Rubina’s father Rafique Qureshi has expressed his disbelief in fimmakers’ promise of a new house. “They have been talking about houses since the Oscars... I don’t believe anything will happen,” Qureshi said.
However, Boyle explained: “It would be great if things were instant but we have to look into long-term decisions.”
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