Review of Salaam Bombay! (1988) by Haroon R — 17 Jun 2013

While it can be considered a documentary disguised as drama with probably a cause coated around with sugar, I would primarily like to see it as just another piece of storytelling on the screen. A fictional drama, because that is what it is, and that is how it should be considered. The sheer brilliance of the visual storytelling of Salaam Bombay! strikes you, as does the brilliant performances of its otherwise amateur actors, with the exception of the professional mastery of Raghubir Yadav, Anita Kanwar and Nana Patekar. Truly capturing the life on the streets and the darkness of life, this film can deliver the ultimate push of inspiration into the wilderness that an aspiring film would need. Mira Nayar truly creates a majestic impression and I would be delightfully surprised if she can ever raise the bar of her work than what she has achieved with Salaam Bombay. With the passionate and well chosen score by L. Subramaniam, cinema doesn't get better than this. One of the best films you would ever watch.

My logline: Circumstances forsake an abandoned child to the city of Bombay, where he finds and loses love, his innocence and himself.

My tagline: Hell is a place on earth.