Mira Nair’s first narrative feature, the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!, is a kaleidoscopic portrait of India's most populous city, now called Mumbai. Teeming street life is captured with documentary-like sense of place, coupled with Nair's compassionate neo-realism as she explores tales of everyday resilience on the margins.
After the young Krishna (Shafiq Syed) is cast out by his family, he makes his way to the city, where he encounters love, friendship, and tragedy in the face of extreme poverty. Drawing compellingly naturalistic performances from a cast consisting largely of children she met on the streets, Nair weaves an intimate human drama that is by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming, an ode to childhood that overflows with colorful urban chaos.