My name is Rubina Ali. I don't know when my birthday is, and nor does my father, but I do know that I am nine years old.
Young Rubina is a one-in-a-million star. Plucked from among five hundred slumkids who auditioned for Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, she saw her fairy-tale dream of stardom come true. Now that she has stepped into the limelight, what will life hold for a young girl from the Mumbai slums?
Rubina tells her own incredible story, bringing to life a world of wastelands and rat-infested shanty dwellings, where she played marbles with her friends beside the sewers of Garib Nagar. She introduces her beloved father, a hardworking rickshaw puller, and her siblings. And then Rubina tells of the kindness of Danny Boyle and of the time she spent on the film sets--including the hilarious incident when her costar came to be covered in chocolate from head to toe.
After her brief encounter with red-carpet glamour, how will Rubina come to terms with the conditions in which she, her family, and her friends continue to live since Hollywood came knocking? This is her compelling story
Rubina Ali (also known as Rubina Qureshi) is an Indian child actress, who played the youngest 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 has been cast in the upcoming Bollywood film Kal Kisne Dekha (2009).
Rubina, the author and protagonist of this book was a poor girl who lived in the slums of India. Her family was poor and had nothing, that is until a Hollywood crew was looking for a child from the slums, to play a part in Slumdog Millionaire. She and a few others were chosen to audition for this part. She had gotten the part and before she knew it, she got an Oscar as well. She describes the massive change in lifestyle from the slums of India to Hollywood, and how all her years of suffering resulted in something huge. I believe that Rubina’s central message is; Life can take you by surprise and choose your fate, but you personally can choose your fate as well. The reason I think that this is Rubina’s central message is because it was only until she had first auditioned for her role that things became real for her. When she got the role, she probably realized that god has always looked down on her, even if it didn’t seem like it before, and that life is full of excitement and surprises. Though she didn’t directly say this, I believe she was hinting at the fact that she could have possibly gotten all of her fame and excitement earlier, if she believed in her self and set herself up for a knew destiny and fate in life.
This book is absolutely breathtaking. No one else could possibly have such a story that seems pretty unrealistic, but realistic at the same time! I have quite a strong connection with this book because I know and have personally seen the slums of India and it horrifying! When seeing anyone, you can’t help but feel like you are about to cry. When Rubina said,”When the filming of Slumdog Millionaire was over,life went back to normal, but I felt more confident and hopeful about my future(75) ”, I specifically remember feeling a feeling of confidence. The events of Rubina’s dreams coming true, and her finding herself gives you confidence too. When reading about the slums or first-handidly see the slums, you understand that you shouldn't take anything for granted. When Rubina said,”I couldn’t believe it! I gave them my autograph, carefully writing my name in English and revelling in my own glory(111).”, she created such a mental image in my head that it was like a movie that I made up from words. Therefore, I would give this book ten stars without thinking because of the great detail and amazing imagery.
Did you see the movie Slumdog Millionaire? Depending on your age, maybe not as it's a rated "R" film. But it did win the Oscar for Best Movie in 2008. One of the actresses in the movie was Rubina Ali, an 8-year-old girl born in the slums of India.
SLUMGIRL DREAMING tells Rubina's exciting story from the auditions for Slumdog Millionaire through the crazy time of the Oscars. Rubina shares her positive attitude and her amazement at the world around her. Rubina lives in a one-room shack built from whatever they could find- sheet metal, wooden planks, plastic, anything - in the Bandra East slums. Her house has no plumbing, no running water, and no bathroom. Nor does it belong to her family. It's on government land. They do have electricity, and a television is their only real extravagance. The streets outside are covered in litter and excrement. It's not a very safe or healthy place to live, but it's all she knows.
One day, a neighbor asked Rubina if she wanted to audition for a movie. Rubina loved television and wanted to be a star and could think of nothing better. Against 500 other Indian children, Rubina won the role of the young Latika. Though it was only a month of filming, it was all Rubina needed to know acting was what she wanted.
Through her role from Slumdog Millionaire, Rubina got to travel to other parts of India (she had never ventured very far from her slum until then) and even flew on a plane to attend the Oscars in Hollywood. Rubina became famous in her slum. But after her travels and staying in hotels that had bathrooms and - more importantly to Rubina, pools! - she had a hard time returning to her squalid living conditions.
Told in such an innocent voice, SLUMGIRL DREAMING was an amazing look at life in a land totally different from what is known in America. Even in our poor neighborhoods, life is never as bleak as it is for Rubina on a daily basis. Rubina and those around her live in conditions that one would think stopped existing in the Middle Ages. Reading Rubina's struggle to achieve her dreams at such an early age and under such circumstances is very inspiring and heartwarming.
Here we go! Rubina is right, the film is just a film but it gives hope. Her story as well is giving hope. Beside studying, I like singing, dancing, and acting. I just to enjoy them. I'm kind of a movie-diverse watcher, if that's the word. I watch Indian, Khmer, Korean, English, Chinese, sometimes Thai and Phillipines movies. When I finish a movie and sees that it is really touching or interesting, I start to act it out. It was so much fun. Like Rubina, I always dream of acting in a film, you know world wide known being like the heroine having an interesting adventure story and never dies. However, Cambodia is different. Our film is always in our country, never export to other country.But if we look into our channels, full of other countries's movies. Well, Chinese's famous because of the martial arts. Korea's because of their beauty-famous if you understand what I mean. India, Bollywood. For Cambodia actors, it is kind of hard to enter or act in the foreign country. Adding on to that, I feel incredibly happy about the drama in school. First, I thought that it is going to be like a real drama-film. But then, I understand that it sis a drama-drama. However, I still enjoy it. I learnt so many new things. Still, I think I might be better or at least want to try to do a real film. Sometimes, I used to dream of a perfect movie, and realise immediately that it is going to be a big success if it is a real film. However, I still realise that it is a dream. Overall, I still have hope, don't I? Yes, I do!!!!!!!
Rubina Ali was one of the main child actors in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). In this autobiography, she talks about her life in the Mumbai slums, her way through the auditions, the filming, her attendance at the Oscar award-ceremony as well as how her life was impacted by the sudden success. The two journalists working on this book with her have done a fine job in maintaining Rubina's voice, the voice of a nine/ten-year old girl who had never seen anything outside of the Bandra East slum where she and her family live. The book is thought-provoking and leaves the reader with many questions (most of all why participating in a movie which earned millions of dollars did not allow Rubina and her family to start a life outside of the slums) and I am therefore hoping to have a friend read this book soon so that I can share my thoughts and wonderings with someone.
الكتاب ممتع جداً، وطبعاً وُضع بمساعدة كاتبتين هما آن برتود وديفيا دوغار. و رغم صدوره منذ عشر سنوات أستغرب أن الناشر العربي لم يعمل له دعاية كافية، فتقريباً لا توجد له مراجعات باللغة العربية.
الأمر الثاني الذي استغربته هو عدم تحقيق هذه الطفلة لطموحاتها. فبعد فيلم المليونير المتشرد لم تمثل سوى دورين هامشيين في فيلمين. بحثت على النت في سبب ذلك فوجدت أنها فضلت إكمال دراستها الجامعية أولاً. إذن سننتظر روبينا علي في السنوات القادمة :)
Uma criança pobre, que vive num Bairro-de-lata, pode sonhar. Esta é a história de Rubina Ali, uma criança que sonhou e chegou a Hollywood. Aqui Rubina conta a sua história, fala do seu Bairro, da sua família, dos seus sonhos, dos castings em que foi seleccionada entre 1500 crianças, da sua experiência ao gravar o seu primeiro filme, da sua primeira viagem, do dia em que foi assistir aos Óscares nos EUA, do regresso ao Bairro-de-lata,... Um livro sincero, escrito por uma criança.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Was a quick, interesting, simple read; the life in the slums is something we in Europe cannot possibly imagine... These places shouldn’t exist! Even though this happy, positive little girl kind of made it, but millions don’t... why do we even have millions of kids in such places? I wonder sometimes, what is wrong with the world we are living in...
A sweet little story more suitable for a younger audience. Nevertheless the little girl (at the time) gives quite an interesting window into her world and encapsulates day to day life in the slums of India.
This book makes my heart warm. Rubina Ali was a small girl with nothing and lived in a slum, but this book is on her journey about how she left her home and became famous. I decided to read this book because i saw it in the public library and it caught my eye. It also had colourful pictures in it and i'd never read a biography before. The spot this book fills on my bingo board is the 'A diary, autobiography or biography' category. My favourite quote from the book was when Rubina was talking about what she learnt at the mosque. "During my lessons at the mosque, i learnt many super-interesting things! Now i know that when a person dies, if he is a Muslim, he is put in a coffin, unlike the Hindus, who are cremated. And if you lie, God turns you into a lizard. And if you steal, you go straight to hell." I liked this quote because i found the Indian beliefs interesting. Wow, God is harsh! Something new i learnt from this book was never compare yourself to others and follow your dreams. Look at poor Rubina's earlier life. She lived in the worst conditions! She didn't know when her birthday was so she never, ever got any birthday presents or a celebration, she had NEVER tasted PIZZA or CHIPS. THAT is poor condition i'd say, and she didn't even KNOW what they were! The thing was, Rubina lived in a dirty, rat-infested slum. BUT, after she was hand-picked from hundreds of children to work in an award winning Oscar 'Slumdog Millionaire' her life had changed forever. Rubina had always wanted to be an actress when she was little, and she achieved what she wanted because she was persistent and brave, and she followed her dream. A character from the book i thought was interesting was Ayush Mahesh Khedeckar. (playing 'Youngest Jamal' in Slumdog Millionaire) I thought he was interesting because it was very funny when he had to jump into that pile of fake poo! Apperently, it was just melted chocolate and peanut butter, and the whole crew were invited to taste it!
While I respect and appreciate Rubina's work in movies, my opinion below is solely regarding this book. Reading this book sitting in a comfy chair, taking breaks in between to have food and snacks can only make me experience very little of what is written in the book (That doesn't mean you have to go to slum to read it). It is about the journey of a slum girl towards achieving her dreams (duh! It's in the name.) I like to think that I have some degree of empathy, but I felt this story to be too whiny and narration to be borderline narcissistic (she's just a kid, I know). The actual effect the story would have had was dwarfed because of the childish way it was narrated in. Instead of feeling sorry for the kid living in the slum, I felt a little bit irked at the constant wishful thinking (maybe I too was like that when I was a kid, but lost it in the process of growing up). But her sense of wonderment both shows the depravity of contact with external world and refreshes the reader's sense of wonderment too. Most of us are used to wonderful things but fail to appreciate them (like basic necessities and small comforts). In the book, her talent was projected rather as a gift she was born with, thereby undermining it. Like everything was being set in place for her and she just have to grab the opportunity presented (much like the story of the film). The ending seemed kind of pleading for help. As one proceeds towards the end, one can observe that reality dawns upon the protagonist, like people forgetting their promises, being deceived by the middlemen among others. But she didn't let this crush her dreams. The girl proceeds to live her life towards fulfilling her dreams and ambitions. On the whole, this book is a nice (auto)biographical account of a slumdog (I couldn't resist) achieving success and reaching stars, but cannot be categorized as inspirational except for the message of hope: If a slum kid can win an Oscar, then a slumdog can surely become a millionaire.
In this book Rubina, the author, shows the reader that even though she started out in the slums of India, she can make it to Hollywood. I also think Rubina wrote this book trying to clear her and her families name because of some false rumors spread about them. In this autobiography, Rubina and her friends live in the mucky slums of India. She used to have the same routine, going to school and bathing in the filthy sewage water, but this all changed when a big Bollywood producer came seeking for real children who live in the slums for his movie. Rubina was chosen with some other of her classmates, and soon after filming, the movie had already won an Oscar. Rubina was sent to America, which she then realized was much different from India.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes sad true stories with happy endings. I really liked when Rubina was describing the hotels she was in as palaces. This shows that she's not used to luxury and praises what most of us take for granite. I like how this book is told by Rubina because I feel as though I'm with her through her experiences. Also it shows how she didn't let fame get to her head but she stayed humble and good hearted. I think everyone should read this book because I learned a lot from it, and I became a better person. I would rate this book a 10 out of 10.
Young Rubina Tells her story of how she was chosen among five hundred slum kids who auditioned for Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. She accounts her life experiences before and after fame living with her family in the slums of Bandra, India. She describes the glamour and comfort she experienced while visiting the USA during the Oscars, as well as the grand reception she got in India after coming back. She tells of the many professional opportunities she received after starring the movie, and the attempts of others trying to take advantage of her and her family due to her new acquired fame.
i just needed a gentle read and got it from this book it is ages since the book came out as it was soon after the film which was yeons ago but just needed some gentle reading in the humid weather which this was i remember the story vaguely and then came back tome and as the book stated on various occasions it gave us what we all needed hope it was at times really happy but towards the end a mixture of emotion sad and anger at people and how cld do such things but at least rubina had a taste of happiness i wonder what she is doing her the answer to that is google her !!!!
This was such an honest autobiography. Rubina's voice was clear, sweet and young. The grim realities of her life were fascinating and very, very sad. I could understand a lot of what she was saying, and even though I've actually seen some of the things she was talking about, living in Pakistan, it still shocked me. It was however a lot of fun to have a full on look behind the scenes and walk along her, on the path to the stars.
I was hoping to find a fun autobiography to read with my class, but I was disappointed. It's a quick, easy read, but there's just not much substance to it.