After the Oscars its Back to the Slums and a Beating
February 27th 2009 21:14
How does one go from the Governors Ball in LA back to the slums of Mumbai? Is it fair to hire actors for authenticity in areas of degradation then bring them to an alien place so far removed from their life and parade them around? It is like the Cindarella story with no happy ending. Taken to celebrate the Oscars and the 8 time Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire only to then have to hand the tux back and be flown back to your slum lifestyle.
The brutality of his slum life came back with a vengeance today for Slumdog Millionaire actor Azharuddin Mohammed when he was beaten by his father, Ismail Usnay.
The ten-year-old boy who was tired from yesterday's long-haul flight from Los Angeles and had wanted to be left alone refused his father's request to leave the shack and face curious onlookers.
Just days ago as one of the movie's child stars he'd walked the Oscars red carpet in glamorous clothes but now back in the slums he was being slapped around the face.
It is a bitter irony that he stars in a film which highlights the brutality endured by many children who live in India's slums.
The ugly scenes lasted no more than 30 seconds despite the child's mother, who is blind in one eye, begging Ismail, 45, to stop the physical punishment.
Yelping as he tried to evade the flailing hands and feet he cowered in the corner of the ramshackle tent, that serves as the family home.
At one point Azharuddin grabbed his face in pain and finally ran off to cry after Ismail, who is infected with TB, was pulled off by neighbours.
Later on the father apologised for striking his son in front of neighbours and passersby.
'I was very sorry that I did what I did,' he said. 'I was so confused and stressed by my son's homecoming that I did not know myself for a minute. I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home.'
In stark contrast to yesterday's triumphant return to the slums when his father lifted him up and paraded him like a trophy for the expectant crowds, this scene was witnessed by only a few at the slum in which they live.
'Azharruddin's father was upset that he was asking to be left alone because he was tired,' said one shocked onlooker.
'He didn't attend school today so that he could recover from his long flight from LA and simply wanted all the attention to stop.
'However, when Azharuddin put his foot down and said that was it and there was to be no more talking, Ismail just flipped. It was like a scene out of Slumdog Millionaire.'
With the massed media long gone and the euphoria of returning home ebbing away, the reality of life in the slums seems to be hitting the child hard.
Having paraded down the red carpets of Hollywood only six days ago and enjoyed the luxury of five-star hotels, returning to the slums and must come as a something of a shock.
However, the families of Azharuddin and his co-star Rubina Ali, eight, have each been promised a flat each from the city in recognition of the honour they have brought to Mumbai. Details on their location and size are not yet known.
Talking only moments before the father's attack, Azharuddin spoke of his tiredness due to the long flight.
'I do not want to speak today to any reporters,' he said.
His father, possibly hoping that his son could be his ticket out of the slums, has insisted his son poses for pictures and gives interviews to the foreign media.
He has also claimed that Slumdog director Danny Boyle and the producers of the eight Oscar-winning film have not done enough for him and his family.
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After all, it's really a tough life for a 10 years old child who living in the slum area...
Comment by Jason King
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Both children were found places in a local school and receive £20 a month for books and food. However, they continue to live in grinding poverty and their families say they have received no details of the trust funds set up in their names. Their parents said that they had hoped the film would be their ticket out of the slums, and that its success had made them realise how little their children had been paid.
Ismail is in fact "worse off" now, as his "family's illegal hut was demolished by the local authorities and he now sleeps under a sheet of plastic tarpaulin." Ali lives nearby -- in a "hut." A Fox Searchlight spokesperson said he is "proud" of their treatment and boasted, "For 30 days work, the children were paid three times the average local annual adult salary."
Wilson - it is horrible for them to receive so much and lose it - I hope they receive their free place from the government and that they do receive their trust funds from the film.
Thanks for comments guys!