'Slumdog Millionaire' trust says it's looking after child star Rubina Ali

A trust established by the makers of Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire told EW via a statement today that it was looking after the welfare of the film's child stars. The statement from the Jai Ho Trust comes in the wake of reports that the father of 9-year-old Slumdog actress Rubina Ali allegedly tried to sell his daughter for more than $300,000 when reporters from Britain's News of the World newspaper made the offer as part of an undercover sting operation. Ali's father, Rafiq Qureshi, has denied that he intended to sell his daughter. Indian police are currently investigating the matter.
The Jai Ho Trust (which is in part supported by Slumdog director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson) issued the following statement:
The Jai Ho Trust was established with financial support from the filmmakers of Slumdog Millionaire to support the welfare of child stars of the film. 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 [Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail].
The Trust will support Rubina, her parents and responsible authorities, to ensure that the rights and best interests of Rubina are protected.
1.) The family will be provided with suitable accommodation;2.) The family will be provided with a fixed sum of money every month towards their living costs; 3.) Education costs for Rubina, Azharuddin and their siblings will be provided for by the Trust;4.) A lump sum will be built up for each of the children which will be available to them for tertiary education or business development after they turn 18 years old and at the discretion of the trustees. 5.) A trained social worker will be hired by the Trust to periodically counsel the children and the family.
The Jai Ho Trust requests the media consider the possible negative impacts of the recent media scrutiny on 9-year-old Rubina, and assist in protecting her interests through sensitive reporting to limit further unnecessary exploitation of her rights and interests.

Indian police end probe of 'Slumdog' star's dad

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Indian police said Thursday they would not charge the father of a child star in the hit movie "Slumdog Millionaire," and ended their investigation into claims he tried to sell his 9-year-old girl to a reporter posing as a wealthy sheik.
Rubina Ali's estranged mother, Khurshid Monish Dewade, filed a complaint against the girl's father on Sunday, after the British tabloid News of the World reported that he offered to give Ali up for adoption in exchange for $400,000, police said.
The newspaper — owned by News International Ltd., the main British subsidiary of News Corp., which also owns "Slumdog" distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures — said the deal was allegedly offered to one of its reporters. The newspaper issued a statement Thursday saying it stands by its story.
The father, Rafiq Qureshi, has denied any wrongdoing.
The accusations further complicated the lives of the families of the slum-dwelling child stars, who have come under intense scrutiny since the movie skyrocketed to Oscar-winning fame and grossed more than $300 million worldwide.
"There is not any crime. The matter is closed," said Rahim Shaikh, the senior police inspector in Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar, where the claim against Qureshi was processed.
No charges have been filed, he added.
Police questioned Qureshi but were unable to track down the three journalists who carried out the alleged sting.
Officers looked for them at the Leela, a five-star hotel where the report said they met Qureshi but they had already left, Shaikh said.
Police traced two mobile phone numbers the trio gave the hotel to local Vodafone SIM cards, which were activated on April 16 and deactivated on April 19.
Indian police made no further efforts to contact the journalists or News of the World in England, Shaikh added.
"The matter is closed. No money changed hands. Rubina is here. There is no crime," he said.
After the report, Rubina's estranged mother thanked News of the World "for bringing this matter to light."
"You have come like angels for me and my daughter and saved her from ending up God knows where," she told the paper. "Who knows who Rubina would have been sold to, or what would have happened to my child if you hadn't exposed Rafiq."
Dewade could not be reached for comment Thursday.

'Slumdog Millionaire' star Rubina Ali, 9, offered for sale ... by her father

Adorable "Slumdog Millionaire" star Rubina Ali is back in the news - but not for her acting skills.
The 9-year-old's father, who lives in a Mumbai slum along with his star daughter, offered to sell Ali for nearly $300,000 to undercover reporters from Britain's News of the World, the paper says.
He is reportedly fielding several lucrative adoption offers for the starlet.
"I have to consider what's best for me, my family and Rubina's future," cash-strapped dad Rafiq Qureshi told the journalists, who posed as a wealthy Middle Eastern family.
Qureshi allegedly upped his asking adoption price for his apple-cheeked little girl during the negotiations because of Ali's star status.
"The child is special now," Qureshi's brother said, per the paper. "This is an Oscar child!"
Ali rose to fame earlier this year as the young Latika in "Slumdog." Break-out star Freida Pinto played the grown-up version of Latika.
Despite the stardom, Ali's father reportedly said the family "got nothing out of this film," although director Danny Boyle has set up apartments for Ali and fellow "Slumdog" child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and their families, which will be available soon.
Boyle has also set up a trust fund for Ali for her education.

'Slumdog Millionaire' trust says it's looking after child star Rubina Ali

A trust established by the makers of Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire told EW via a statement today that it was looking after the welfare of the film's child stars. The statement from the Jai Ho Trust comes in the wake of reports that the father of 9-year-old Slumdog actress Rubina Ali allegedly tried to sell his daughter for more than $300,000 when reporters from Britain's News of the World newspaper made the offer as part of an undercover sting operation. Ali's father, Rafiq Qureshi, has denied that he intended to sell his daughter. Indian police are currently investigating the matter.
The Jai Ho Trust (which is in part supported by Slumdog director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson) issued the following statement:
The Jai Ho Trust was established with financial support from the filmmakers of Slumdog Millionaire to support the welfare of child stars of the film. 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 [Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail].
The Trust will support Rubina, her parents and responsible authorities, to ensure that the rights and best interests of Rubina are protected.
1.) The family will be provided with suitable accommodation;2.) The family will be provided with a fixed sum of money every month towards their living costs; 3.) Education costs for Rubina, Azharuddin and their siblings will be provided for by the Trust;4.) A lump sum will be built up for each of the children which will be available to them for tertiary education or business development after they turn 18 years old and at the discretion of the trustees. 5.) A trained social worker will be hired by the Trust to periodically counsel the children and the family.
The Jai Ho Trust requests the media consider the possible negative impacts of the recent media scrutiny on 9-year-old Rubina, and assist in protecting her interests through sensitive reporting to limit further unnecessary exploitation of her rights and interests.

‘Slumdog’ dad and daughter speak out

Rubina Ali and her father, Rafiq Qureshi, have spoken out together for the first time since accusations surfaced in a British tabloid that Qureshi was interested in selling his daughter in an illegal adoption to journalists posing as a wealthy couple from Dubai.
“I talked to them in the room,” Ali told CNN of the meeting, conducted by undercover News of the World journalists. “My dad said I could meet people if I want to, ‘But I will never give my daughter away for any amount of money.’”
Qureshi admitted he met with a supposed wealthy couple from Dubai — who were actually imposters hired by British tabloid News of the World — but reports have claimed he misunderstood what was happening because he does not speak English well. Undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood, however, defended his story to Larry King on “Larry King Live.”
“It’s completely untrue…. We have seven hours of tape,” the journalist told King. “It’s indisputable. Nothing gets in the News of the World newspaper unless it is 100 percent [true] and this is.”
And News of the World released a new videotape allegedly showing Rafiq and his brother, negotiating Ali’s sale. The tape however, has no sound.
“The reason there is no audio on the section we put out on the Internet is because the conversation was in Urdu,” Mahmood explained to Larry. “I received information from somebody very close to Rafiq about a month ago that he was interested in selling his child. All we did was investigate that and the allegations that were made to me.”
But the police claim there is “no evidence of any offense,” and after questioning Rafiq, they did not arrest him. An investigation is reportedly still ongoing, police told the Associated Press.
Ali’s “Slumdog” co-star, Anil Kapoor, who was honored last night at the 7th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, is returning to India soon and plans to get the real story from Rubina herself.
He has not seen the children since the Oscars.
“Anything connected with the children now is speculative you know,” he said about the stories that have surfaced, which he said he has not yet read.
“You never know what is the truth and what is not the truth,” he added.
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But Kapoor did say his fellow castmates were worried from the start about what would happen with the kids following the movie’s release.
“That’s the worry we always had,” he told Access. “When we all of us were discussing it I said, you know, when they are exposed to this kind of limelight, [there are] going to be disadvantages.”