SALAAM BOMBAY! (1988) MOVIE REVIEW

Storyline

The story of Krishna, Manju, Chillum and the other children on the streets of Bombay. Sometimes they can get a temporary job sellng tea, but mostly they have to beg for money and keep out of the way of the police.

Review

A heart wrenching and very realistic drama.

I have come across one of the most realistic and moving films I have ever seen. Having been involved in helping street kids in India I was pleased to come across this film which so accurately depicts life, love and death around a group of street boys in Bombay.

SALAAM BOMBAY is the story of a 12-year-old street boy surviving and etching out an existence on the squalled streets of Bombay. The interactions these kids have with each other made me feel I was watching a doco. The kids in India are so much like Chipau and the others depicted in Salaam Bombay its amazing. They all have there individual lives and dreams like us all but are burdened with extreame poverty.

The story lines in the film are about the prostitution business, drug addiction and homeless children. All these elements combine so as we see the people and lives behind them. These issues are rarely dealt with on such a personal and emotional level as we see in this film. This ain't Hollywood and it sure ain't Bollywood.

For me my favorite all time film. You may have difficulty in finding this film at your local video library but it truly is worth viewing.

Recently showed this film to a group of street kids in Pune, India. They were amazed at its realism. All thought they were watching real people not actors,(These kids have grown up watching Bollywood films). This same group would have watched this film 5 times now. And all could identify with the characters.

Directed by
Mira Nair

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mira Nair		story
Sooni Taraporevala		screenplay
Sooni Taraporevala		story

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Shafiq Syed	...	Krishna / Chaipau
	Hansa Vithal	...	Manju Golub
	Chanda Sharma	...	Sola Saal
	Raghuvir Yadav	...	Chillum (as Raghubir Yadav)
	Anita Kanwar	...	Rekha Golub (as Aneeta Kanwar)
	Nana Patekar	...	Baba Golub
	Anjaan	...	Child at the circus
	Amrit Patel	...	Circus Boss
	Murari Sharma	...	Ticket Seller
	Ram Moorti	...	Mad Man
	Sarfuddin Qureshi	...	Koyla (as Sarfuddin Quarassi)
	Raju Barnad	...	Keera
	Irshad Hashmi	...	Chacha
	Mohanraj Babu	...	Salim
	Chandrashekhar Naidu	...	Chungal