Rubina Ali
{{short description|Indian actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rubina Ali Qureshi
| caption = Rubina Ali on the cover of Slumgirl Dreaming
| birth_name = Rubina Ali
| other_names = Rubina Qureshi, Rubina Jodiyawala
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|9|2009|7|5}}
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 2008–2013
}}
Rubina Ali, also known as Rubina Qureshi, also known as Rubina Jodiyawala is an Indian actress who played the child version of Latika in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award. Following the film's success, she was cast in the Bollywood film Kal Kisne Dekha (2009).
Personal life
Like her on-screen character, Rubina came from one of the slums of Mumbai, living in the Garib Nagar slum near Bandra station. She lives with her father Rafiq, her sister Sana, her brother Abbas and her stepmother Munni. Rubina's biological mother, Khurshid (alias Khushi), after divorcing Rafiq, married Monish. Her father married Munni and Rubina was raised by her father and stepmother. Munni has four children from her past marriage – Suraiya, Sanjida, Babu and Irfan.{{cite web |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_i-want-to-stay-with-dad-slumdog-star-rubina-ali_1249079 |title=I want to stay with dad: Slumdog star Rubina Ali – Mumbai – DNA |work=Daily News and Analysis |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=12 July 2012}}{{cite news |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sell-off-rubina-its-a-lie-father/448991/2 |title=Sell off Rubina? It's a lie: father |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=12 July 2012}}{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090426/jsp/7days/story_10876697.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810040457/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090426/jsp/7days/story_10876697.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 August 2014 |location=Calcutta, India |work=The Telegraph |title=In the belly of iniquity |date=26 April 2009}}{{cite news |title=Slumdog actor upset at return of her mother |author=Ramesh, Randeep |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 February 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/28/rubina-ali-slumdog-millionaire |access-date=2 March 2009 |location=London}}
Following the success of Slumdog Millionaire at the 2009 Academy Awards, the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority recommended the children be rehoused, with an official saying the children had "brought laurels to the country" and deserved to be rewarded.{{Cite news |date=2009-02-25 |title=Slumdog children to be rehoused |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7909660.stm |access-date=2023-11-28}} On 25 February 2009, the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority announced that Azharuddin as well as Rubina would be given "free houses" so that they would no longer have to live in the Mumbai slum of Garib Nagar.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-25 |title=Slumdog Kids No Longer Slumming It |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/101571/slumdog_kids_no_longer_slumming_it |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=E! Online}} However Ali remained in a shanty in Garib Nagar until it burned down in March 2011.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12655792 |work=BBC News |title=Slumdog Millionaire child actress's home in Mumbai fire |date=5 March 2011}}
After taking temporary refuge in rental, Rubina and her family were eventually rehoused in her own flat in the Bandra West suburb of Mumbai, bought for her by the Jai Ho Trust set up by British director Danny Boyle.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111018074801/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/slumdog-millionaire-star-rubina-alis-flat-in-bandra/193595-8.html Slumdog Millionaire' star Rubina Ali's flat in Bandra] IBN
She got married in November 2023. {{Cite web |last=Agarwal |first=Toshiro |title=
Slumdog Millionaire's Latika AKA Rubina Ali Qureshi Ties The Knot, Announces 'New Life Journey as Mrs Jodiyawala |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/hollywood/slumdog-millionaires-latika-aka-rubina-ali-qureshi-ties-the-knot-announces-new-life-journey-as-mrs-jodiyawala-article-105314453 |date=18 November 2023 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=timesnownews.com |language=English}}
Career
File:Cast "Slumdog Millionaire".JPG team at the 81st Academy Awards in the US]]
Critics have claimed Rubina and her co-star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail had been underpaid for their part in the film. This has been disputed by the film's producer, who says the actors had been paid the equivalent of a monthly salary payment for the production company's senior staff in Britain. A trust fund has been set up for the children which will be released to them when they turn eighteen, provided they continue in education until this time.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-14 |title=Slumdog Millionaire's child stars to miss Oscars |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/4615505/Slumdog-Millionaires-child-stars-to-miss-Oscars.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}
Both Azharuddin and Rubina attended the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009, along with all of the other actors who played Salim, Jamal and Latika. Azharuddin was accompanied by his mother Shameem Ismail, while Rubina was accompanied by her uncle.{{cite web |title=Two Mumbai slum kids set for fairytale journey to Oscars |agency=Indo-Asian News Service |date=19 February 2009 |url=http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=113253 |access-date=20 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011100608/http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=113253 |archive-date=11 October 2012 }} This was her first journey outside of Mumbai.
In March 2009, Rubina was cast in the Bollywood film Kal Kisne Dekha (2009), alongside her Slumdog Millionaire co-star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail. The film was directed by Vivek Sharma and featured the Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Juhi Chawla in cameo roles.{{cite news |title=Azhar and Rubina shoot for movie where Shah Rukh has a cameo |newspaper=The Siasat Daily |date=5 March 2009 |url=http://www.siasat.com/english/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=329133&Itemid=55&cattitle=Entertainment |access-date=5 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312233243/http://www.siasat.com/english/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=329133&Itemid=55&cattitle=Entertainment |archive-date=12 March 2009}}
In July 2009, 9-year-old Rubina wrote an autobiography called Slumgirl Dreaming detailing her life so far and her experience filming Slumdog Millionaire, making her the youngest person to pen a memoir.{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/slumdog-star-writes-memoir-ndash-at-the-age-of-nine-1732177.html |title='Slumdog' star writes memoir – at the age of nine |date=5 July 2009 |work=The Independent |access-date=15 April 2017 |language=en-GB |author=Mesure, Susie}}
In 2009 Ali announced that she would be starring in the romantic comedy Lord Owen's Lady alongside Anthony Hopkins,{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} but as of 2013 the film has not commenced filming.{{cite web |last=Baker |first=Steven |title=Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali 'abandoned' by UK director |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/bollywood/news/a496333/slumdog-millionaires-rubina-ali-abandoned-by-uk-director.html |website=Digital Spy |date=7 July 2013 |access-date=24 February 2014}}
As of 2020, she was studying fashion design at a university and was working a part-time job at a makeup studio.{{Cite news |date=2020-01-31 |title='Slumdog Millionaire' child artist Rubina Ali's father passes away due to tuberculosis |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/slumdog-millionaire-child-artist-rubina-alis-father-passes-away-due-to-tuberculosis/articleshow/73789429.cms |access-date=2023-11-28 |issn=0971-8257}}
In 2022, she opened her own beauty salon near Mumbai. She is pursuing a career as a hair and makeup artist. In an interview with The Times of India, she said would be open to possibly acting again.{{Cite news |date=2022-01-14 |title=Exclusive Pics! Slumdog Millionaire actress Rubina is now a hair stylist and a makeup artist |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/exclusive-pics-slumdog-millionaire-actress-rubina-is-now-a-hair-stylist-and-a-makeup-artist/articleshow/88890414.cms |access-date=2023-11-28 |issn=0971-8257}}
=Compensation=
According to the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, Rubina Ali was paid £500 during filming for a month's work on the film.{{cite news |author=Dean Nelson and Barney Henderson |title=Slumdog child stars miss out on the movie millions |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/4347472/Poor-parents-of-Slumdog-millionaire-stars-say-children-were-exploited.html |access-date=27 January 2009 |location=London |date=26 January 2009}} A Fox Searchlight spokesman responded that for their one-month work on the film, she was paid three times the amount of an average annual salary for an adult living in their neighborhood.
On 26 January 2009, Danny Boyle (director) and Christian Colson (producer) released a written statement saying that they had “paid painstaking and considered attention to how Azhar and Rubina’s involvement in the film could be of lasting benefit to them over and above the payment they received for their work”. Boyle and Colson have stated that they have "set up trust funds for Rubina and Azharuddin and paid for their education," although the exact amount of the trust funds is not known. This has also been met with criticism as there is question as to how children growing up in the slums have any expectation of being able to attend higher education, making the trust fund potentially useless.
Boyle has explained that, "We don't want to reveal exact figures about what's in the trust fund, what's in the bank account for them for when they leave school because it will make them vulnerable and a target really but it is substantial, and they will hopefully gain benefit from the film long after the film has disappeared and long after the media who are chasing them at the moment sadly have lost interest in the film and that's been our approach throughout and I think it's the right approach."{{cite web |author=Tapper, Jake |title=Slumdog Symphony: A Chat with Danny Boyle |publisher=ABC |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/slumdog-symphon.html |access-date=29 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015021437/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/01/slumdog-symphon/ |archive-date=15 October 2012 }}{{cite news |title=From Slumdog to Bollywood |newspaper=The Times of India |date=5 March 2009 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/From-Slumdog-to-Bollywood/articleshow/4223672.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023103603/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-03-05/news-interviews/28058322_1_vashu-bhagnani-rubina-ali-child-stars |url-status=live |archive-date=23 October 2012 |access-date=5 March 2009 |first1=Afsana |last1=Ahmed |first2=Smrity |last2=Sharma}}
=Awards and honours=
Won
- 2009: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Slumdog Millionaire{{cite web |url=http://www.sagawards.org/PR_090125 |title=15th Annual SAG Awards, Recipients Announced! |date=25 January 2009 |access-date=25 February 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
Nominated
- 2008: Black Reel Awards of 2008 – Best Ensemble for Slumdog Millionaire{{cite news |url=http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/75882/Cadillac,-Slumdog-&-Bees-are-triple-threats-at-Black-Reel-Awards/ |title=Cadillac, Slumdog & Bees are Triple Threats Black Reel Awards |newspaper=Daily Express |date=15 December 2008 |access-date=23 February 2008}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! Language ! Notes |
|---|
| 2008
| Younger Latika | |
| 2009
| | Hindi | |
| 2013
| La Alfombra Roja | herself | Hindi and English | The Red Carpet in English; documentary short |
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|3193186}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Rubina}}
Category:21st-century Indian actresses
Category:Indian child actresses
Category:21st-century Indian Muslims
Category:Actresses from Mumbai
Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema
Category:Indian film actresses
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners