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Salaam Bombay! [1988]
![Salaam Bombay! [1988]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R4T8HE0ZL._SL160_.jpg)
Nair eschews the obvious "city of contrasts" theme, presenting only the view from the street, shooting in real locations of Grant Road and its environs. This is one of the greatest presentations of Bombay to date, comparable across genres to Raghu Rai's photography or Vikram Chandra's fiction. On the DVD: Salaam Bombay on DVD includes a compelling scene-by-scene commentary, in which Nair discusses the problems of location shooting, training the children and the impact of the film on the lives of so many of its characters. The film is in Hindi with English subtitles. --Rachel Dwyer
RRP: £9.99
Our Price: £11.09 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Meera Nair's Salaam Bombay was her first film, and one of only three Indian films nominated for an Oscar (the others being Mother India and Lagaan). The deceptively simple documentary style hides a meticulously planned feature in which nothing is left to chance. Real street kids play the leads alongside veteran actors, such as Nana Patekar and Shaukat Azmi, as we follow Chaipau, the urchin who wants to save his 500 rupees to "go home", and his encounters with prostitutes, thugs and drug addicts among whom he finds love and companionship. The story avoids sentimentality by endowing the characters with humanity while never romanticising their plight.
Brilliant
Review date: 2007-04-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
Others have written excellent in depth reviews so ill keep mine short.
Firstly, watch it. The movie is a masterpiece and you are transfixed into the film from start to finish. Life in India is a cultural phenomenon and there is such a different way of life from the rosy settings we see in normal Hindi cinema.
Manju and her mother are by far my most favourite characters in a movie. Their story is one of tradgedy and despair. Their relationship shows a love that has nothing to do with the mothers job as a prostitute and the acting is so precise and beautiful to watch.
Mira Nair is truly an art director whose work is becoming a massive influence on eastern and western cinema. Watch Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake for movies that touch your heart. However, none of these as good as they are will touch mine like that of Salaam Bombaby. I truly hope that the situation of orphans in the cities of India has greatly improved. I admire and respect them so much in the way they handle their lives. Love to them all x x x
Reviews
Life of Street Children in Bombay
Review date: 2006-11-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
Mira Nair shows the realities of living on the streets in Bombay where children sleep under bridges and sell tea to the prostitutes in brothels as they try to earn money to live from day to day ... Primarily, the film revolves around Krishna, a young boy of 11 years, who left his village to work on the streets of Bombay to earn 500 rupees to pay back his brother, whose bicycle he destroyed. He becomes part of a group of kids who hang out together and look out for one another ... They associate with drug dealers and prostitutes. While the film does show how drugs can destroy lives and how young innocent girls are lured into prostitution there is also a truthfulness and innocence which is conveyed ... The film depicts how the kids survive amidst poverty and how they manage to create a sustainable lifestyle with some semblance of happiness and a wonder for life despite having next to nothing in a material sense.
One of the best extra features on this DVD is the commentary by the director. Mira Nair provides insights into how many of the unique scenes were shot. She discusses particular angles and views used by the camera to capture the pure honesty of this lifestyle. She also describes difficulties encountered and how they were resolved, the major one was meeting the budget, the other was was getting big name actors and actresses for the key roles. Fortunately the subject matter was of such importance, a large British studio Filfour agreed to help fund the project if Ms Nair could raise 51% of the budget herself. Another plus was, the subject of the film was deemed a "governement film" and therefore she received funds as well as access to areas which otherwise would be denied, such as the children's home where street kids were taken after arrested. Ms Nair managed to get a popular male stage actor who had never done films to play one of the lead roles and to her delight, he has since become one of India's most famous leading male film actors. She also snared a popular female television soap opera star to play the female lead ...
One of the most unusual but appealing elements in this film is how Ms Mair used actual street children to be the key actors in the film. She held auditions and made selections then held seven week long workshops where they learned their parts via pictures of scenes which they memorized. Another captivating aspect of this film is how real streets with shop keepers and shoppers were filmed along with the real train station and the natural activities which fit the storyline of the film. This film is a magnificent study of a way of life that few people can imagine but it is all too common in poverty stricken areas of the world. Through this film, Mira Nair has brought the attention of the world to the plight of homeless children in India. She has made a great contribution to improving their lives on many levels. Due to her efforts, trusts have been established in Bombay and other major cities to educate and assist these children. The film itself is a mix of documentary and fiction which captures the intimate details of their reality in vivid color, detail, and honesty. This is a most highly recommended film. Erika Borsos {pepper flower}
Shocking, real, touching, mind-provoking, artistic, documentary, brilliant
Review date: 2006-06-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
In 1988 Mira Nair directed "Salaam Bombay" is a film about street children of Bombay. It's a story about a 10 year old boy Krishna (Shafiq Syed) who comes to Bombay from a small village to earn 500 rupees for his mother. He is not allowed to go back home without money and so he starts living in streets with other children and work as a tea boy (Chaipau). Chaipau makes friends with Chillum (Raghubir Yadav) who is a local drug dealer and addict working for Baba (Nana Patekar) - local criminal. Baba lives in a brothel with his prostitute wife (Aneeta Kanwar) and their daughter Manju (Hansa Vithal). One day a young girl Solasaal (Chanda Sharma) is kidnapped and sold to the brothel and Chaipau immediately falls for her whilst the little Manju "falls" for Chaipau.
The film is about the struggle of people (and especially children) living in the streets. Arrived from different parts of India, trying to escape domestic violence or poverty, they do accidental jobs or steal occasionally to survive. Other street folk consists of prostitutes and drug addicts. The film is really touching and mind provoking, although being with Chaipau all the time we, like him, expect everything to be fine at the end. What surprised me most was that the kids and all the other characters in Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay" are not expecting sympathy from others - they are that much unused to it. This made me respect them a lot.
The film was shot in the streets, so all you see is streets and buildings, no any exaggeration about reality, the way it is. All the children actors are real street kids and their natural performance is the best I've seen. Raghubir Yadav and all the other actors were brilliant too. Also the L. Subramanian fusion jazz soundtrack made me like this film too. Highly recommended.
Plight of the Street Children at its depressing best
Review date: 2006-04-06 Rating: 8 out of 10
I saw this movie almost 18 years back while in college when i had not lived in bombay long enough to appreciate the setting for this movie. Now as an adult I watched it and felt depressed seeing these children lead desolate lives in the wretched conditions exacerbated by an apathetic society.Knowing that the children who acted in this movie are from the streets, I am curious about their condition now many years since. The movie portrays the desperation of these kids to survive the harsh life that is thrust upon them. what you see is real and devoid of any fudging for the celluloid.This is not entertainment but a slice of life presented in your face
The score by Maestro L Subrahmanian adds a mournful touch to the movie.
Realistic and depressing
Review date: 2005-07-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is very far from a feel good film- in fact it's downright depressing. But then not everything in life is rosy. The film presents a struggle through poverty. The 10 year old hero discovers that sometimes when you're down on your luck everything seems to conspire against you. It's not a particularly uplifting message but it comes across as realistic. The acting is excellent. The story doesn't always seem to be leading anywhere but then I guess that in itself is a statement on life in the ghetto. Certainly worth watching.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Raghuvir Yadav
Anita Kanwar
Hansa Vithal
Shafiq Syed
Chanda Sharma
Creators:
Shafiq Syed (Primary Contributor)
Hansa Vithal (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5014138295882
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-06-16
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1988-10-07
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Hindi (Original Language)