"...where has she been for the past FIVE years?"

FIVE days ago, Rubina Ali, a child star from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, was walking down the Oscars red carpet when the movie was nominated for several categories including Best Picture (and won). She stayed in a five-star hotel with her fellow friends, the actors and actresses from the movie. They even went to Disneyland together. "Uncle Danny" (Boyle, the director) was kind enough to bring them there.

But on Thursday, the 9-year-old star returned to her (for the lack of a better word) fucked-up life in the slums of Mumbai, India.

She was photographed smiling and waving and blowing kisses to the camera (a skill she learned while she was in Hollywood). Hundreds of "well-wishers" greeted her (and the other child actors from the movie) when she came back.

Fortunately, director Danny Boyle had planned to move them from the dirt-filled slum into an apartment worth RM110, 000.

However, her homecoming wasn't all good news when a battle of custody arised. Her mother (who left her five years ago) came back and tried to take her away from her dad (who took care of her all the time her mother was away). He accused her of trying to get her daughter's wealth. Rubina's mother denied the accusation.

But Rubina herself asked, "If she is my mother, then where has she been for the past five years?"

When Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture (and 7 other categories), it just goes to show that you DON'T have to be a star to be a star. But once you get back to reality, if you're fucked up, you'll remained fucked up.