Salaam Bombay!
Encyclopedia
Salaam Bombay! is a 1988 Hindi film
directed by Mira Nair
, and screenwritten by her longtime creative collaborator, Sooni Taraporevala
. The film chronicles the day-to-day life of children living on the streets of Bombay. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
, the National Board of Review Award
for Top Foreign Film, the Golden Camera
and Audience Awards at the Cannes Film Festival
, and three awards at the Montréal World Film Festival
. The film was India's second film submission to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
. The film was among the list of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" by the New York Times.
, to rehabilitate the children who appeared in the film. Most of them were eventually helped. The Trust is still in existence, and now lends support to street children
in Mumbai
/Bombay, Delhi
and Bhubaneshwar. Shafiq Syed, who played the role of Krishna in the movie now earns his living as an autorickshaw driver in Bangalore
.
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
directed by Mira Nair
Mira Nair
Mira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
, and screenwritten by her longtime creative collaborator, Sooni Taraporevala
Sooni Taraporevala
Sooni Taraporevala is an internationally acclaimed screenwriter and photographer, currently based in India. She is best known as the screenwriter of Mississippi Masala, The Namesake and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay , all directed by Mira Nair.She directed her first feature film, based on a...
. The film chronicles the day-to-day life of children living on the streets of Bombay. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
, the National Board of Review Award
National Board of Review Awards 1988
The 60th National Board of Review Awards were announced on December 13, 1988, and given on February 27, 1989.-Top 10 films:#Mississippi Burning#Dangerous Liaisons#The Accused#The Unbearable Lightness of Being...
for Top Foreign Film, the Golden Camera
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
and Audience Awards at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, and three awards at the Montréal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
. The film was India's second film submission to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. The film was among the list of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" by the New York Times.
Plot summary
Fed up with being continuously bullied by his elder brother, Krishna sets fire to his brother's motor-bike, which lands him in big trouble with his mother. She takes him to the nearby Apollo Circus and tells him that he can only come home when he earns 500 rupees to pay for the damaged bike. Krishna agrees and finds a job with the circus, but one day his boss asks him to run an errand and when Krishna returns, he finds that the circus has packed up and left. Alone and with nowhere to turn, and unable to find the money to repay his mother, he decides to travel to the nearest big city - Mumbai (Bombay). As soon as he arrives, he is robbed of all his meager possessions. He follows the thieves and befriends them, and ends up in the city's notorious red-light area of Falkland Road, near the Grant Road Railway Station. One of the thieves, Chillum, also a drug pusher and addict, helps Krishna get a job at the "Grant Road Tea Stall." Krishna gets a new name, "Chaipau," and learns to live with it. His goal is to get the money he needs to return home to his mother, but he soon finds out that saving money in his surroundings with the people near him is next to impossible. To make matters worse, he has a crush on a young prostitute named Sola Saal. He sets fire to her room and attempts to escape with her, but the two are caught. This gets Krishna a severe beating, and he loses his job. He works odd jobs to feed himself and look after Chillum, who can't live without his drugs. To get more money, Krishna and his pals rob an elderly Parsi man by breaking into his house in broad daylight. One night while returning home, the boys are apprehended by the police and taken to a juvenile home. Eventually, Krishna escapes and goes back to his world of drug-pushers, pimps and prostitutes, still nurturing his dream of one day returning to his mother.Cast
- Shafiq SyedShafiq SyedShafiq Syed is an Indian rickshaw driver and former actor. At the age of twelve he starred in the 1988 film Salaam Bombay, a performance for which he received the 1989 National Film Award for Best Child Artist.-References:...
- Krishna/Chaipau - Hansa Vithal - Manju
- Chanda Sharma - Sola Saal
- Raghuvir YadavRaghuvir YadavRaghubir Yadav is a two-time International Award winner Indian stage, film and television actor, music composer, singer and set designer.-Biography:...
- Chillum - Anita KanwarAnita KanwarAnita Kanwar is an Indian film and television actor who is best known for her role as Lajjo ji in the 1980s Doordarshan mega soap opera Buniyaad....
- Rekha - Nana PatekarNana PatekarVishwanath "Nana" Patekar is an Indian actor and filmmaker.-Biography:Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, to Dinkar Patekar and his wife Sanjanabai Patekar. He is an alumnus of the Sir J.J...
- Baba - Irrfan Khan - Letter Writer
- Raju Bernad - Keera
- Chandrashekhar Naidu - Chungal
- Sarfuddin Quarrassi - Koyla
- Mohanraj Babu - Salim
- Sanjana KapoorSanjana KapoorSanjana Kapoor is an Indian theatre personality and former Indian film actress, who has been running the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai since 1993. till 2012 February. -Biography:...
- Foreigner reporter
Won
- 1988: Audience Award, Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
- 1988: Golden CameraCaméra d'OrThe Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
, Cannes Film Festival - 1988: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in HindiThe National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi awards the best regional film in Hindi language. Initially the award was known as the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The winners in this category are:...
- 1988: National Film Award for Best Child ArtistNational Film Award for Best Child ArtistThe National Film Award for Best Child Artist winners:-References:*...
: Shafiq Syed - 1988: National Board of Review AwardsNational Board of Review Awards 1988The 60th National Board of Review Awards were announced on December 13, 1988, and given on February 27, 1989.-Top 10 films:#Mississippi Burning#Dangerous Liaisons#The Accused#The Unbearable Lightness of Being...
: Top Foreign Film - 1988 : Lilian Gish Award Excellence in Feature Film, Los Angeles Women in Film Festival (tied with Elysium)
- 1988: Jury Prize, Montréal World Film FestivalMontreal World Film FestivalThe Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
(tied with The DawningThe DawningThe Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
) - 1988: Most Popular Film, Montréal World Film Festival
- 1988: Prize of the Ecumenical JuryPrize of the Ecumenical JuryThe Prize of the Ecumenical Jury is an independent film award for feature films at the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. The Ecumenical Jury is one of three juries at the Cannes Film Festival, along with the official jury and the FIPRESCI jury. The award was created by Christian film makers, film...
, Montréal World Film Festival
Nominated
- 1989: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
- 1990: BAFTA Film Award Best Film not in the English LanguageBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
- 1989: César Award for Best Foreign FilmCésar Award for Best Foreign FilmThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Foreign Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(Meilleur film étranger) - 1990: Filmfare Best Director AwardFilmfare Best Director AwardThe Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in the Hindi film Industry. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.-Superlatives:...
- 1989: Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language FilmGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
Production
Most of the young actors who appeared in Salaam Bombay! were actual street children. They received dramatic training at a special workshop in Bombay before they appeared in the film. In 1989, director Mira Nair established an organization called the Salaam Baalak TrustSalaam Baalak Trust
Salaam Baalak Trust is an Indian Non-profit and Non-governmental organization, established in 1988 with the proceeds from the film "Salaam Bombay!" made on street children by noted film director, Mira Nair , which provides support for street and working children in inner cities of New Delhi,...
, to rehabilitate the children who appeared in the film. Most of them were eventually helped. The Trust is still in existence, and now lends support to street children
Street children
A street child is a child who lives on the streets of a city, deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 17 years old.Street children live in junk boxes, parks or on the street itself...
in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
/Bombay, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Bhubaneshwar. Shafiq Syed, who played the role of Krishna in the movie now earns his living as an autorickshaw driver in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
.