Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (; ; born 1998) is an Indian former child actor, who played the youngest version of Salim Malik in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award. Following the film's success, he has been cast in the Bollywood film Kal Kisne Dekha (2009). Biography Like his on-screen character, Azaruddin came from one of the slums of Mumbai, living in the Garib Nagar slum near Bandra station. According to The Daily Telegraph, "his family's illegal hut was demolished by the local authorities and he now sleeps under a sheet of plastic tarpaulin". In 2020 the Mumbai Mirror published an article about Azharuddin which revealed he was living in the slums again after his business went bankrupt. His mother also revealed he became a drug addict. Career Critics have claimed Azharuddin and his co-star Rubina Ali, had been underpaid for their part in the film, something disputed by the film's producer saying 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. Both Azharuddin and Rubina attended the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009, along with all of the other actors that played Salim, Jamal and Latika. Azharuddin was accompanied by his mother Shameem Ismail, while Rubina was accompanied by her uncle. This was his first journey outside of Mumbai.