alr

Salaam Bombay!

Screening on Film
Directed by Mira Nair.
With Shafiq Syed, Raghubir Yadav, Aneeta Kanwar.
India/France/UK, 1988, 35mm, color, 114 min.
Hindi and English with English subtitles.

Shot on location in the bustling streets of downtown Bombay, this film chronicles the day-to-day lives of the city’s homeless children—their struggles for survival, their battles with drug addiction and prostitution, their attempts to find moments of happiness. At the center of the film is ten-year-old Chaipau, a bright-eyed boy who hopes—with heartbreaking naïveté—that his odd jobs and petty thefts will eventually earn him enough money to return to his family in the countryside. But as the gravity of his situation becomes clear, Chaipau’s optimism fades and he resigns himself to the harsh reality of life on the streets. Awarded the prestigious Camera d’Or at Cannes for best first feature, Salaam Bombay! launched Nair into the international spotlight.

Part of film series

Read more

Salaam Cambridge!
Mira Nair in Retrospect

Read more

ARTS FIRST

Current and upcoming film series

Read more

Harvard Undergraduate Cinematheque

Read more

Albert Serra, or Cinematic Time Regained

Read more

Wang Bing’s Youth Trilogy

Read more

The Shochiku Centennial Collection

Read more

Planet at 50

Read more

The Yugoslav Junction Continues!

Read more

Theo Anthony, Subject to Review

Read more

The Ideal Cinematheque of the Outskirts of the World

Read more

From the collection – Satyajit Ray