Nicole Kidman "Strange And Afraid Of The Sun"

I don't know what I expected in an autobiography from a nine year old girl, but Rubina Ali's book is about as good as one could expect I think from someone who hasn't even hit double digits in the age department. Sure, it was written by someone else, but the words and stories appear to be her own.

In her book she describes what life was like prior to Slumdog and how it has changed her and what she expects from life now as opposed to what she expected before. That is the most remarkable thing about the book. Someone who has grown up in the middle of huge poverty and only knows that poverty and how because of a movie sees the world with entirely different eyes.

In the book she talks about her salary from the movie and how she doesn't know if she has any of it left or exactly how much she got paid or where it all went. She does speculate that the salary went to medical bills for her father's broken ankle. That must have been one hell of a broken ankle to spend that much money.

Rubina still has not received her promised apartment from Slumdog's producers and so she and her entire family live together with her uncle's family in a tiny apartment because her shanty was torn down back in May.

In a few brief paragraphs she describes working with Nicole Kidman on a commercial and how they shared a trailer. "I really liked her, but she was very quiet and didn't speak much. I think she was a bit shy. She was very strange and never wanted to come out of the trailer for the entire shoot. I think she was afraid of the sun."

Well, sure, because sunlight would kill her. One of the most interesting passages from the book shows how different life becomes when you are exposed to a new world. In the past, when Rubina had to go to the bathroom she would just go anywhere. Now though she will walk and walk just to find a pay toilet.

The commercial she shot with Nicole lasted just three days but paid her more than she was paid for the entire Slumdog shoot. No one mentions anything about where this money went. I wonder if she even knows how much she got paid or if she did get paid.