IMDb user comments for
Salaam Bombay! (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 2 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

34 comments in total

---

9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Absolutely Brilliant, 27 July 2000

Author: jforkix (murari@iastate.edu) from Ames, Iowa

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A superb portrayal of the homeless in the streets of Bombay through the eyes of a young kid. Bombay with its conglomeration of people becomes a character in the movie. The cinematography was excellent as it leaves a lasting impact on the viewers. Few movies handle such a difficult subject and I must say that Mira Nair and Sooni Taraporevala have done an excellent job. The music of L. Subramaniam has an haunting effect (sound track available under the same name), especially the movie theme and chillum's theme when he dies. Top jazz guitarists like Larry Correl have played for subramaniam, probably difficult to notice in the movie, so check the soundtrack. Overall very impressive.

---

5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Haunting Movie Debut., 22 October 2005

Author: Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) from Toronto, Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The film is about a 12-year-old street boy, Chipau, played by an actual street child, Shahiq Syed, who through some appalling circumstances comes to Bombay and finds himself among the street children eking out a meagre existence on the filthy, squalid streets of the city.

Writer/Director Mira Nair, in her movie debut, did the extraordinary in preparing for this film. For one, she held workshops for street children so they could "unlearn" the Bollywood type acting they had learned at the cinema and she taught them to just be themselves.

The viewer is left totally engrossed, repelled, appalled and sympathetic, all in turn, repeatedly. The film has the feel and rawness of a documentary. We are "in" the brothel, we are "with" one of the characters when he spins out when withdrawing from his drug. We are with the mother who loses her child to the orphanage - a far more soulless place than the brothel from which the child was removed.

There are many stories intertwining in this film even as the characters' lives entwine. The emotions of the viewer are engaged at all times. Some of the scenes come close to unbearable.

All the children have dreams and develop a companionship with each other, the human spirit wins out, even at the very end when the gutsy and creative Chipau is left alone, just like we saw him in the beginning. A complete cycle of life lived before he reaches another birthday. Desperate, hopeless and desolated. One can only hope that Chipau triumphs in the end. A movie that haunts long after other movies have come and gone. 9 out of 10. An absolute must-see.

---

5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Lost Childhoods, 22 January 2005
Author: rl400 from United Kingdom

A brilliant but sad film in which we follow abandoned Krishna on his quest to make enough money to return to his village. Along the way we meet the street kids, prostitutes, pimps and dealers he shares everyday life with.

An amazing aspect is that all the child actors in the film are real street kids picked after attending workshops run by Nair and friends. In particular the central performances of Krishna, Manju and Coalpiece (his songs!) are superb. Despite their hardships there are some great moments when you see glimpses of the playful kids within.

The film never wanders into over-sentimentality and at times its hard to believe you're not watching a documentary. Hindi-film music and escapism seeps into everyday life, actors mingle with ordinary people and the whole film is shot in real locations around Mumbai that just drip with atmosphere. This sadly includes the chiller room which was filmed as they found it along with the soul-crushing 'Flowers that never bloom' prayer.

The story wanders and can be slow but this only serves to draw you into their world and leave you sad and angry at the end - at the loss of childhood for these kids and countless others. Still relevant today.

---

6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A raw chronicle of a hidden world, 24 March 2005
Author: Graham Deans Williamson (gdwilliamson@deathsdoor.co.uk) from Middlesbrough, England

Mira Nair's debut is almost as good as her masterpiece 'Monsoon Wedding' (2001), but be warned - it's darker. A lot darker. To the point where it's often quite difficult to watch, but stick with it and you'll feel the reward. I've often considered Nair as the successor to the French new wave with her character-driven plots and jazzy, freewheeling filming style, and this is her most obviously Truffaut-influenced film. There's even a very obvious cop from 'Les Quartre Cent Coups' (1953) at the end.

Basically, this is the story of Krishna, a young country boy sent by his father to Bombay to make some money doing odd jobs. Soon, he's trapped in an underworld of drug-dealing and prostitution which runs off - and is sometimes presided over by - alarmingly young children. Call it 'City of Shiva' if you will, but be warned that even the transient glamour of gangsterism is nowhere to be found in this story.

Refreshingly, even at the darkest points Nair withholds judgement, assuming her viewers are intelligent enough to work out that children being sold into prostitution is, y'know, a bad thing. The closest she gets to editorialising is the occasional witty cut, such as one blackly funny moment where a teenager being led upstairs by a brothel owner cuts straight into a shot of a chicken being decapitated and plucked. As usual for Nair, there's a great selection of Indian pop tunes on the soundtrack, and the movie's attitude towards India's more mainstream film industry is probably summed up by a shot of an abandoned television playing some Bollywood fluff. Highly recommended, if you can stomach it.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Impossibly Real!, 15 December 2005

Author: gult from United States

The most striking feature of Salaam Bombay is how real it is. Its hard to imagine how Mira Nair got those street children to act. Every scene in the movie, including the railway platforms and streets, is as real as it can get. This movie is in-your-face lower class India. Although the theme is depressing, Nair boldly presented what actually happens on the streets of Bombay. Any difficulties that you may face in life will seem minuscule in comparison to the unsurmountable challenges faced by Bombay's street children. 'Haunting' is the word that best describes this film. The background score adds very much to the its strength. Think of it as India's Schindler's List; only, this happens everyday in Bombay. Watch it on a quiet evening and reflect on it for sometime, for maximum effect.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
This is a Masterpiece!!, 22 December 2004

Author: dotyet from Canada

this movie is a masterpiece!! had heard a lot about this movie earlier (since I was a young kid), but never had a chance to see it. the then Indian film industry does deserve Standing ovation for this one. It clearly speaks about what the dream city Bombay is for certain sections of the society. the character of chaipau, does almost every deed, from smoking, stealing, running, landing in jail, to (attempted or maybe not) murder. he is nothing but a very simple boy, trying to collect enough money to reach his native land, but then he is every time forced to grapple with the viciousness of the so-called dream city.

another one which is on my wishlist is 'Saleem Langde Pe Mat Ro'.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Awesome!, 27 June 2000

Author: pan-10

I agree this is an awesome and overpowering film. A total immersion into a different civilization - different, yet in many ways not unfamiliar. A view into the back streets and underworld of Bombay. The characters are indeed unforgettable. How can I forget "Sweet Sixteen" who never even said one word. The crowd scene at the end reminded me of the crowd scene at the end of "Children of Paradise", the greatest movie ever made, in my opinion.

Another movie about India that I love is Renoir's 1951 film, "The River".

---

5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Salaam Bombay, 4 January 2006

Author: Andante73 from United States

I recently saw this movie on DVD and it really moved me. What makes it even more interesting is that it is based on real people. It moved me so much, I am considering helping the "street kids". Once you check this movie out, you will see what I mean. It actually moved me to tears. The actual trust is mentioned in the special features on the DVD. Don't worry, I won't give it away.(smile) Salaam Bombay is a real treat and will make one appreciate what one has. Sometimes, in the United States, we can become self-absorbed in our daily lives. It was refreshing to see a movie that did not rely on special effects and people with looks and no talent. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Extracts an emotional price, 7 May 2007

Author: bandw from Boulder, CO

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is the story of eleven-year-old Krishna, left by his mother to work for a circus until he could earn 500 rupees to pay off his brother (who had lied about the debt). But Krishna is soon severed from the circus and goes to the local train station and asks for a ticket to the nearest big city. That city turns out to be Bombay. Once there, Krishna falls in with a band of homeless children who live on the streets. He ekes out a living by taking odd jobs like delivering tea to some locals, plucking chickens, and being a server at a wedding.

Given Krishna's situation, he winds up in the less savory part of the city and in the course of his peregrinations his life becomes entangled with pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, petty thieves, and others of dubious moral quality. We come to know and understand many of these characters in more than a superficial way.

All of this may sound a bit depressing and I found it to be so. This film extracts an emotional price and one has to ask if it is worth it and I would say that it is. The movie has the feel of a documentary and, as such, I felt exposed to a world that I would have never encountered in any other way. If we are to understand the world we live in, then every insight into the lives of others is of value.

In spite of its rather downbeat tone, there is inspiration to be had here. Krishna is ultimately collared by the law and sent to an institution for homeless kids that is regimented and repressive. In short order he makes a dramatic getaway and the scenes of his running down the streets after his escape are a joyous celebration of his freedom and his independence of spirit. Overall Krishna's reactions to his predicament are a testament to his resourcefulness and will to live. If asked, would Krishna admit to a hard life? Is that a question that would occur to him to ask, or a question more likely to be asked by a Westerner? For an even more gut-wrenching story along the same lines read Rohinton Mistry's novel "A Fine Balance" that takes place some twelve years prior to the time of this movie, during the days of the Indian "Emergency" of Indira Ghandi.

When on the way to the institution in the police van, an older riding companion reaches over and touches Krishna's hair and says, "It'll be all right. One day ... in our India, things will be all right." In the almost twenty years since this movie was made one hopes, and senses, that things in India are moving in the direction of proving the old gentleman's prognostication correct.

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
gotta see movie, 13 January 2007

Author: soulyce from Canada

My goodness I loved this movie and found it very relevant to what goes on around the world in many slums and ghetto. The story made me feel things for all the characters, even the villain BABA (who is very attractive). This movie even has some comedy in it to make the situations that arise seem bearable. The character Manju is the sweetest thing with a little mean streak like all little girls who don't get there way. The relationship with Maju and her mother is a special one and although the mother is not perfect she loves her child to the utmost. I also found Baba to be a very complex character and i believe that he was once a good guy with good intentions. Anyways this move is 1 that you shouldn't miss if you liked movies such as : city of gods, menace to society and all those gritty coming of age movies. PS the ending is not so easy to swallow

---

---

Page 2 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Ratings
Awards	External reviews	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user comments	Your vote history