Salaam Bombay! examines life in a part of the world many viewers have never visited -- but does so with enough compassion and grace to make them feel as if they have. Read critic reviews
Salaam Bombay!
1988, Drama, 1h 53m
30 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
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Movie Info
After destroying his older brother's motorbike in retaliation for his constant bullying, 11-year-old Krishna (Shafiq Syed) is sent to a traveling circus to earn money to pay for the bike's repairs, but soon winds up in the streets of Bombay's poorest slums. There, he befriends the drug dealer Chillum (Raghubir Yadav) and the beautiful young prostitute Sola Saal (Chanda Sharma), while trying to make enough money at a neighborhood tea stall to repay his debt to his family.
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Critic Reviews for Salaam Bombay!
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Salaam Bombay! is the story of homeless children living in the streets of Bombay, following one little boy's story in particular. Krishna (also referred to in the movie as Chaipau) starts the film off working in the circus, where his mother has sent him to pay off a debt of 500 rupees he incurred through criminal misbehavior. When the circus leaves without him, he buys a ticket to the nearest big city, and begins to save up the money to be able to return home. But it's very hard to save money while living on the street, when your friends are junkies and thieves. Chaipau also befriends a young girl who's been sold to the local brothel, and is having difficulty adjusting to her new life in forced prostitution. Baba the pimp (he reminds me a little of Harvey Keitel's pimp from Taxi Driver), who lets his own wife turn tricks, is also a drug dealer, and is responsible for getting Chaipau's friend hooked. The movie has an air of familiarity to it, drugs, prostitution, homelessness have all been covered before (in the aforementioned Taxi Driver, for example), and the central point of view is highly reminiscent of the earlier film, 400 Blows. It also lacks the beauty of film-making that went into the latter Slumdog Millionaire (although there were a few scenes of visual and visceral cleverness). However, if one were looking to watch a film about the impoverished life on the streets of India, this would be the one to watch. It will stay with you for awhile.
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The debut film from the acclaimed western transplanted Indian filmmaker Mira nair. This is a tough movie which I suspect was intended for western markets, it shows the streets of the Bombay red light district from the eyes of homeless children. Basically it?s Slumdog Millionaire without the game show fairytale ending. It?s very interesting and uncompromising.
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In the light of Slumdog Millionaire receiving praise, Salaam Bombay was recommended to me to compare in contrast. This is a remarkable Indian film directed by Mira Nair depicting the plight of Krishna, a ten-year-old boy. After being thrown out by his family and abandoned by new friends in a traveling circus, this resourceful youth winds up in Bombay's red-light district. Tutored by a drug addict and a prostitute, Krishna learns how to survive in the streets of the dirty and crowded city. What's different about this one, is that it doesn't romanticize the life these children live. It manages a sympathetic portrait of life among the pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers and street people of Bombay without minimizing the horrors of their existence and without being completely depressing. It manages this by keeping focus on the good impulses of the not-yet-completely-corrupted children and the way they bond and try to help one another, and by not completely closing off the possibility that they will, somehow, be able to escape. Krishna's hope is to get enough money to go home, but his compassion for his friends, his naivete, and his efforts to help others get free make that goal an elusive one. Highly recommended. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view¤t=salaam.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/salaam.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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with slumdog millionaire perhaps set to win an academy award for best picture, it's a good time to check out mira nair's 1988 feature, salaam bombay, which makes slumdog look even more like a sugar-coated fairytale. the film used real street kids in a powerful drama about their poverty-stricken lives among drug addicts and prostitutes. like boyle's current film, it was criticized for showing a side of india some would rather not be seen. the film won many awards, drew attention to forgotten street children and raised money for a trust to help kids all over india. it may not have the feel good ending of slumdog but it's effects have been long lasting for it's subjects.
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