Abstract

Sakhya Indian Cinema Club screens fortnightly screenings showcasing the best of Indian cinema. All movies are sub-titled in English to make them accessible to a non-Indian audience.

This coming week, we bring you the runaway hit, Salaam Bombay, which realistically depicts the day-to-day life of children living on the streets of Bombay. The film has won multiple awards including one at Cannes Film Festival, and was selected as one of the “best 1,000 movies ever made” by New York Times – so, don’t miss out!

Title: Salaam Bombay!

Director: Mira Nair

Synopsis: The film provides a bird’s eye view into the plight of India’s urban street children. It is done through the experience of young Krishna, an illiterate, country bumpkin of a boy, who is abandoned by his mother at a circus and told not to come home until he has five hundred rupees for having broken something that belonged to his brother. While Krishna is on an errand, the circus packs up and leaves town, and he is left alone to fend for himself. Krishna uses his last few rupees to travel to a city, which by luck of the draw turns out to be Bombay. Thrust into the life of the street children of Bombay, living among the pimps, hustlers, drug addicts, prostitutes, and throw-away children that proliferate in India’s urban settlements, a modern day jungle, Krishna struggles to survive. His resourcefulness holds him in good stead. He quickly develops some street smartness and forms attachments. He struggles to earn and save money, so that he can return home to his mother and the family whom he misses, only to be duped in the end by one whom he had trusted. His story breaks one’s heart, as he learns some hard lessons in life.

We expect high demand and seating is limited to 30, so please e-mail: ausaf.farooqui@gmail.com to reserve seating.