The roaring success and Oscar nominations for Slumdog Millionaire has put the spotlight on Mumbai's underbelly and the child actors Mohammed Azharuddin and Rubina Quereshi — who play Salim and Latika respectively in the film — are enjoying all the attention while it lasts even as they slug it out in Mumbai's bustling slums.
"Danny uncle ko bahut miss karte hai, (We miss Danny uncle a lot," said Rubina.
Despite reports of their parents alleging that the child actors were underpaid for the film's 30 day shoot, Rubina's father refutes the claims.
"Dannyji ne sabkuch kiya hai, bacchon ke liye fund bhi hai, cycle bhi kareed de aur unki padhai bhi hogi (Danny has done a lot for the children. He has created fund, bought them cycles and even their education will be taken care off)," said Rubina's father Rafiq Quereshi.
Meanwhile, director Danny Boyle spoke about the other controversy around the film. Earlier this week, a PIL was by Andheri Corporator Nicolas Almeida which alleges that the film's title is offensive and it should be changed from Slumdog to Slum Dash Millionaire.
"For us, "slumdog" was always a very affectionate term because for us it was a hybrid, a mixture of underdog and rooting for the underdog, and obviously he comes from the slums," explained Boyle.
As for the young stars, they have their own starry-eyed aspirations.
"Mujhe Salman banna hai, mujhe Preity Zinta unki acting acchi hai, (I want to be Salman. and I wan to be Preity Zinta, we like their acting," said Azhar and Rubina.
And with the constant media attention, the children are now local celebrities. But Azhar admits he would like a bigger home.
"Sab basti mein bolte hai, ab tum log actor ban gaya idhar ko rehte hai. Bandstand mein jaake flat mein rehna chahiye (Everyone tells us that now taht we are actors we should get a flat in Bandstand and live there)," said Azhar and Rubina.
As the excitement to the Oscar countdown builds up, the duo is obviously rooting for their film.
"Oscar milna toh chahiye, humne acting ki hai aur London ke director hai (The film should get an Oscar, we've acted in it and it's been directed by a director from London)" said Rubina.
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