Mira Nair and Salaam Bombay

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Mira Nair and Salaam Bombay

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Outline

• Mira Nair the history of the production of
  Salaam Bombay.
• Major Theme 1 Migrants in the city
• Major Theme 2 comradeship and betrayal
• Major Theme 3 Social factors

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Introduction to Mira Nair

• Born in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa in 1957 (middle
  class family)
• Attended the University of New Delhi (Sociology
  and Theater)
• Went to Harvard in 1976 (Sociology) (source)

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Films by Mira Nair

• Jama Masjid Street Journal (1979)
• So Far From India (1982)
• India Cabaret (1985)
• Children of a Desired Sex (1987)
• Salaam Bombay (1988)
• Mississippi Masala (1991)
• The Perez Family (1993)
• Kama Sutra A Tale of Love (1997)
• My Own Country (1998)
• Monsoon Wedding (2001)

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Salaam Bombay! History of Production

1. Interviews of street kids in Bombay.
2. Out of these interviews emerged a screenplay that
   was a composite of several lives.
3. Then many of the children were enlisted for
   weeks in a daily workshop, not to teach them
   "acting" (for that they already knew from
   hundreds of overacted Indian film melodramas),
   but to teach them how to behave naturally in
   front of the camera. (source)

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What happened to the children?

1. "Our whole attitude was to meet them halfway and
   help them realize their own self-worth and
   dignity," said Nair in a recent interview with
   The Christian Science Monitor (12 Oct 1988,
   p.19). "We wanted to help them create
   opportunities they want for themselves."
   Responding to this respectful approach, some
   children entered school, some returned home to
   their villages, some got jobs, and some have
   stayed on the streets.
2. Nair is using proceeds from the film to open
   learning centers for street children in both
   Bombay and Delhi. (source)

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Salaam Bombay!

• Awards
• the New Director's Award at the Cannes Film
  Festival in 1988 an Academy Award nomination for
  best foreign film in 1989
• Neo-Realism A departure from Bollywood Musical.

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Salaam Bombay! Questions

• How does Krishna go to Bombay? What is his first
  experience of it? (clip 1)
• Why is he away from home? Why does he go to
  Bombay and what does he want to do there? (clip
  711 )
• How does he relate to the people he meets in
  Bombay? (e.g. Manju, Sweet 16, Manjus mother,
  Chillum, the other street kids.) e.g. Why does
  Krishna fall in love with Sweet Sixteen?
• Are there any traces of Bollywood musical
  influence in the film?

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Major Themes in Salaam Bombay

• Migratory identity people drifted to the
  metropolis, lost in the crowd, e.g. shots of the
  train station
• -- Chaipau his name (Krishna) no home address
• -- Chillum completely lost ? hybrid culture and
  identity (e.g. Chillum, Manjus danceclip 3 Ms.
  Hawaii in the movie clip 6)

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Salaam Bombay survival

• How do Krishna and the other kids survive?
• Skin chicken, clean chicken coops
• rob an old man,
• serve in a rich mans wedding party

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Major Themes in Salaam Bombay

• Desire for home
• e.g. Krishna
• -- tries to write home
• -- needs 500 rupees so that he can go home
• -- forms a family in Bombay (Chillum, the
  other children).
• What about Manjus family?

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Salaam Bombay The migrants in a city (2)

• Manjus family
• Baba child-abuser and pimp
• Mother loving but cannot help
• Manju lonely and in desperate need of love.
  (e.g. clips 8, 9, 12, 14)

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Salaam Bombay a series of betrays
Baba
His wife Manju

• Chillum

Krishna
The other street kids
The Sweet Sixteen
The circus boss
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Major Themes (2)

• Comradeship, betrayal and rebellion/survival--
  Pattern of Repetition
• Drug-dealing the death of the previous drug
  dealer, Chillum and then another Chillum.
• Cheating Manjus mother cheated, The Sweet
  Sixteen
• Some are self-destructive and some, surviving
• Chillum has no friend cheats Krishna with his
  bank.
• Krishnas setting fire as a way of rebellion
  against his brother, and then against the
  whorehouse

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Major Themes 3 Social Factors

• Why are Baba and his wife not named?
• Why do people call Krishna Chaipau?
• What roles do Krishna God play in this film?
  And the Chiller room? (clip 20, 22)
• Who sends the two kids to Chiller room?
• How is the chiller room presented?

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Salaam Bombay social factors

• State intervention Chiller Room
• drug, prostitution and Bollywood
• traces of collonial influence
• cricket, tourists, statues, movies
• Religion helpless. E.g. Ganesh

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Salaam Bombay and Earth

• What do you think about the ending of Salaam
  Bombay? Is there any hope for the street
  children? What does the spinning top mean?
• How are the positions of Lenny and Krishna
  different in Earth and Salaam Bombay.
• Can you think of any other film that is
  comparable to Salaam Bombay?

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References

• This outline is made partly by Pin-chia Feng.
• Roger Elbert. SALAAM BOMBAY!