If Danny Boyle had made Salaam Bombay, would the movie have been subjected to the same venomous attacks that some members of the Bollywood ignorati have heaped upon his new award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.
Most likely, yes. A lot of calumnies would have been heaped upon Danny.
After all, Danny is a gora, a westerner from the U.K. What does he know about India? Danny’s been in Bombay for only a few months. He’s merely out to strike it rich upon the backs of our poor street kids of Bombay.
Such would have been the reaction from some of our frothing-at-the-mouth, seething-with-jealousy, ranting-like-nuts, know-nothing Bollywood idiots back home.
No matter the depressing reality that much of what we see in Salaam Bombay or Slumdog Millionaire is very true. The lot of the poor kids in urban India is infinitely worse than the worst dickensian nightmare you can envision. Worse than what you see on the screen for 90 minutes in a dark room as you constantly dip your fingers into the large popcorn tub and sip that sickening cola amidst hypocritical sighs.
A Movie on Two Levels
We saw Salaam Bombay the other day (if you live in the U.S., the movie is available at the online DVD rental service Netflix), the third element in the troika of fine movies showing the hard lives of children in dreadful urban shanties (the other two are Cidade de Deus and Slumdog Millionaire).
Unlike most Bollywood, Kollywood or Hollywood balderdash, movies like Salaam Bombay ought to be seen on two levels – first as a movie and second as an indictment of the state for failing to deliver the most basic needs of its citizens.
Salaam Bombay, the Movie
Although not as visually compelling as Slumdog Millionaire, Salaam Bombay (1988) does its job more than adequately and is one of the few must-watch movies coming out of India.
Directed by Mira Nair when she was 29, Salaam Bombay was supposedly filmed entirely on the streets of Bombay including in the red-light area of Kamatipura – 52 locations in 52 days, according to the extra features on the DVD – and with a cast comprised mostly of street children, who underwent training for a short duration.
Salaam Bombay was Mira’s first feature film but you couldn’t tell seeing Continue reading »
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