10-year-old Slumdog Millionaire actress, Rubina Ali is homeless for the second time this year after her house was bulldozed by Indian authorities to make way for a new railroad to be built through the Garib Nagar slum in Mumbai, India.

Rubina’s first home was demolished by authorities in May. Her family is still waiting for Slumdog’s Jai Ho Trust to provide her with an apartment which was promised to them. The trust was set up to ensure the welfare of Rubina and her co-star Azharuddin Ismail. Azharuddin was placed in a $56,000 apartment with his family earlier this year. Both children are also currently receiving a $120 monthly allowance from the trust.

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According to reports, Danny Boyle abruptly left India for England the other day, after a meeting with the Jai Ho Trust pretty much turned into an extortion attempt by the families of the young actors. The trust was originally set up to give the child actors better living conditions and a decent education, but during this week’s meetings, the families of Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali demanded cars for relatives, and tens of thousands of dollars in extra cash for spending.

A spokesperson for the Jai Ho Trust confirmed today that Danny had left in the middle of negotiations because he was “tired [and] frustrated at these demands”.

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Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, two of the formerly homeless Slumdog Millionaire kids are now at risk of losing their filmmaker-provided trust funds, all because neither kid has been to school on a regular basis so far this year.

According to Noshir Dadrawala, the administer for the Jai Ho Trust, Azharuddin has only been present to about a third of his school days so far this year, and Rubina has only popped in for about a quarter. Noshir is blaming the kids’ truancy on their traveling, saying,

They are constantly going to Paris and Cochin and Chennai. That’s fine, but go over the weekend, not at the sacrifice of school.

If Azharuddin and Rubina don’t start attending at least 70% of their school days, the trust will stop making their £100 monthly trust fund payments. In addition, of the kids don’t graduate from high school in a few years, they will lose the lump sum payment that the trust has set aside for them.

When interviewed, Azharuddin’s mother blamed her son’s absences on his father’s death in September. Rubina’s parents have yet to come up with an excuse.

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9-year-old Slumdog Millionaire actress, Rubina Ali is reportedly working on a book about growing up in the slums of Mumbai.

The autobiography entitled Slumdog Dreaming: My Journey To The Stars, is set for release on July 16 by UK and US publisher Transworld.  A statement released by the publisher reads:

Rubina brings alive a world of wastelands and rat-infested shanty dwellings, and shows us her home, a wooden shack with a tarpaulin roof, where she grew up with her beloved father and siblings.

Just try your best to ignore the fact that her “beloved father” once attempted to sell her on the black market for £200,000.

Some proceeds from the book’s sales will reportedly go directly to Rubina and her family.  The rest of the money will be donated to French medical organization Médecins du Monde.

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The three youngest cast members of Slumdog Millionaire flew to Hong Kong today for a live taping of a song-and-dance routine to support The Community Chest charity, which aims to raise money to support various community projects in Hong Kong.

Rubina Ali, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar were seen being followed by the paparazzi earlier today after their arrival at Hong Kong International Airport.

The trio, who will be staying at a luxury hotel, are being paid a small sum of money for their appearance.  After their performance, the kids will be heading out to London for a Parliament event set to honor the Slumdog cast and crew.

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The Slumdog Millionaire filmmakers have finally found an excuse to pull 10-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and his 9-year-old co-star Rubina Ali out of the Mumbai slums for excursion #2.

The pair will be taking a trip to London next weekend for an event thrown by Parliament Member Keith Vaz to honor the impact that Slumdog Millionaire has had on world-wide audiences.  Rubina, who has been studying up on the country’s landmarks, has told reporters,

I can not wait to travel to London to see the Houses of Parliament. I will get to see Big Ben and hopefully Leicester square where all the movie premieres are. I also want to go on the London Eye, I have seen it on the television, but now I will get to see it in real life.

Azharuddin adds,

We keep on getting awards for this film. It is good that the film is still being seen and I can not wait to travel to Britain to see another different country.

The kids first ventured out of India to attend the Academy Awards earlier this year.

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Slumdog Millionaire actor, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail’s family members, who were homeless just last week, now reportedly have two brand new homes waiting for them.

A trust set up for the young Slumdog Millionaire actors, recently dropped a little change on a brand new apartment for the 10-year-old after his home in the Mumbai slums was destroyed by Indian authorities last month. Coincidentally, the Indian government, which received a nice chunk of bad press from the house-crushing incident, also stepped in to buy a new pad for the Ismail family.

9-year-old actress Rubina Ali, whose home was also destroyed last month, is reportedly receiving a home from the government as well.  No word yet on whether or not she’ll also score a second home from the Slumdog trust like her lucky co-star Azharuddin did.

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Slumdog Millionaire director, Danny Boyle arrived in Mumbai today to meet with the families of child actors, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed, whose homes were destroyed by Indian authorities in recent weeks.

The meeting, which was set up to discuss the issue of acquiring proper housing for both children and their families, ended early when Rubina’s father Rafiq Qureshi stormed out of the room, telling reporters,

Everything is available in Mumbai if you have the money. If you really want to get us a house you can get us a house in two days. After the Oscars they forgot about us.

Danny defended himself by saying that he and other Slumdog filmmakers had been trying to secure housing for the children “for a long time”.  A home for Azharuddin is reportedly almost ready for move-in, and the children’s trust is still working on finding an apartment for Rubina’s family.

Rubina is currently living with relatives, and Azharuddin is staying with his parents in a makeshift shack made of blankets and tarps.

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The Associated Press is reporting that the home of 9-year-old Rubina Ali was torn down in the Mumbai slums early this morning, when Indian authorities demolished about 18 shacks in the poverty stricken area.

Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi claims that the police assaulted him before the demolition, sending him to the hospital with minor injuries.

Police officers interviewed are denying that Rafiq’s home was involved in the demolition, saying that even though several other homes in a nearby area were affected, Rafiq’s house was not in that part of town.  Rafiq is no stranger to controversy.  Last month, he was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell Rubina to a wealthy family from Dubai.

Last week, news broke that the home of another Slumdog Millionaire child actor, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, was destroyed by authorities.

Police officers claim that they are just cracking down on illegally constructed homes in the slums.

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9-year-old Slumdog Millionaire star, Rubina Ali’s older sister has come forward to claim that the Oscar-winning film has completely ripped her family apart.  13-year-old Sana told reporters that her father, who was accused over the weekend of trying to sell Rubina for £200,000, recently kicked her out of the family’s home in the slums of Mumbai.  Sana said,

My father said I was unwanted and Rubina was more precious. Abba [father] cared for us well before Slumdog. The Oscar has destroyed my family.

Sana went to her mother with news two weeks ago that her father Rafiq was entertaining offers to put her sister up for sale.  She claimed that she heard her father asking Rubina if she would be interested in living with another family overseas.  Rafiq denied the accusations and sent Sana to live with her mother Khursheed.  Authorities are supposedly still investigating the incident.

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The father of 9-year-old Slumdog Millionaire actress, Rubina Ali has been released from police custody after Indian authorities failed to find evidence that Rafiq Qureshi had attempted to sell his daughter on the black market for £200,000.  The police have released the following statement about the incident:

We have interrogated Rubina’s father at length and have not found any evidence against him indicating that he was trying to sell Rubina.

Rafiq had previously claimed that he was confused when undercover reporters offered cash for the girl, saying that because he did not speak English, he misunderstood the deal and thought the men were offering a movie role for his daughter.

Authorities are still continuing their investigation despite the release of their suspect.

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A trust set up by Slumdog Millionaire producer Christian Colson and director Danny Boyle has stepped in to protect the best interests of 9-year-old child actress Rubina Ali, after reports surfaced that her father had attempted to sell her to an undercover reporter for £200,000.

The trust, originally established to financially protect Rubina and her siblings, has now hired a social worker to personally check in on the girl, who is currently still living in the slums of Mumbai.

Christian recently released a statement saying,

Both Danny and I remain committed to working with the trust and the family to secure Rubina’s long-term best interests.

One of the trustees, Noshir H. Dadrawala added,

The trust will support Rubina, her parents and responsible authorities to ensure that the rights and best interests of Rubina. The trust is in regular contact with Rubina Ali and her family and has hired a social worker to assist in looking after her welfare and that of her co-star.

The trust was primarily designed to provide Rubina with a decent living situation, good education, and a monetary payment on her 18th birthday.

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The mother and stepmother of 9-year-old Rubina Ali were spotted screaming and slapping each other on the streets of the Mumbai slums yesterday.  News surfaced over the weekend that Rubina’s father Rafiq Qureshi and her stepmother, Munni were attempting to sell her to a wealthy man in Dubai for £200,000.  Rubina’s mother, Kurshida Devade did not agree to the sale, and was apparently furious at Rafiq and Munni for the attempted transaction.

The fight occured as Rafiq was being interrogated by authorities on charges of child trafficking.  Munni and Kurshida took their brawl out onto the street, where onlookers were able to catch a glimpse of the two yanking off clothing, and physically slapping each other.  See pictures of the cleavage-bearing catfight here (Possibly NSFW).

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Indian authorities arrested Rafiq Qureshi, the father of 9-year-old Slumdog Millionaire actress Rubina Ali after news leaked over the weekend that he had attempted to sell his daughter to an undercover reporter posing as a wealthy man from Dubai for £200,000.

Indian police interrogated Rafiq for hours before his arrest last night.  Rubina’s mother Khurshida, who is divorced from her father, is claiming that she became aware that her ex-husband had been attempting to broker a deal for the girl two weeks ago when her oldest child informed her of the news.  She went to authorities after the media reports surfaced.

Rafiq is insisting that the undercover reporters spoke only English, which he did not understand.  He is claiming that they simply confused him, leading him to believe that they were trying to offer his daughter a movie role for the money.

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News of the World recently decided to create an interesting story by sending one of their reporters off to the Mumbai slums to pose as a wealthy man from Dubai interested in purchasing 9-year-old Slumdog Millionaire star, Rubina Ali from her father.

Surprisingly, daddy Rafiq Qureshi took the bait, and offered up the girl for £200,000.

Rafiq went so far as to take his daughter for a midnight meeting at the Leela Kempinski hotel in Mumbai to show her off to the undercover reporter.  During the meeting, he told the man,

We’ve got nothing out of this film.  I have to consider what’s best for me, my family and Rubina’s future.  There’s a lot of interest in Rubina, she’s become very famous.

Rafiq was reportedly also considering a real offer from a wealthy Middle Eastern family interested in buying Rubina for £50,000, but decided to up the offer to £200,000 after News of the World pretended to express interest.

Rubina was plucked out of the Mumbai slums last year to play young Latika in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire.  The girl’s father had recently issued public complaints that they were not paid enough for Rubina’s work.

Update: Sources close to the Rafiq Qureshi’s family are now coming forward to say that he did indeed meet some people at a hotel with his daughter recently, but since the undercover journalists did not speak Hindi, he was under the impression that they were discussing a movie role for the girl.  Rafiq insists that he would never sell his daughter, saying,

Rubina is so precious to me - even more than life itself. I could not even think about doing anything like that - let alone actually doing it… Life is bad at the moment, of course I want us to get out of this slum. I would never agree to anything like that. Never.

Let’s play “who’s lying?”

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