Slumdog actor finally gets a real home
'Slumdog Millionaire' child actor Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail finally moved into a new permanent home along with his family today.
The Jai Ho Trust, supported by film director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson, have bought a 250 sq ft apartment in Mumbai for the 10-year-old, marking the end of a life among thousands jostling for space in Mumbai’s slums.
Azharuddin’s home for the last month had been a makeshift construction of tarpaulin sheets after the civic authorities demolished his slum dwelling.
A spokesman for the trust, said: “We signed the papers on Monday. We have the keys and we will hand them to the family.”
He added that the young boy’s father, who had earlier refused to live in an apartment bought in Azharuddin’s name, is no longer complaining. “He doesn’t seem to be worried now,” he said.
The trust is still searching Mumbai for a flat in which to house Rubina Ali, one of the other child stars of the movie. The family had reportedly been shown a house approximately nine miles away from where they live, but turned down the offer.
“They have been very finicky about where they want to move. There is no place in Bandra where they want to live,” the spokesman said.
The state government had also offered a flat worth to Azharuddin and his family which is smaller than the one they have moved into.
The spokesman told the Hindustan Times that the children could keep both houses if they wanted to. “The property will be in the trust’s name until they are 18. Then it will be transferred to the children.
“There is a clause in our agreement and in the Mhada (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) one, which says the flats cannot be sold until they are 18,” he said.
The makeshift house that Azharuddin lived in was pulled down by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on May 16, while nine-year-old Rubina’s home was demolished by railway authorities four days later.
This is not the first time the child actors have been forced on the streets after authorities pulled down their houses. Civic action in March had rendered them homeless but, as is usual in many slums across the country, the residents simply erect new structures elsewhere.
Mumbai’s housing authorities had earlier promised that both child actors would get new homes before the monsoons lash the state later this month.
