The Indian filmmaker discusses her movies, her characters, and her own history.
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Nominated for five awards, including the Oscar and the César. Won three awards, including the Golden Camera at Cannes.
I came from a tradition of political theater in which we worked with non-actors in workshops to create a story and take it out in the streets. All that came to play in making my first feature, Salaam Bombay! We worked with street kids in a church basement in downtown Bombay. Shafiq Syed was actually 15, although because of malnutrition he looked 11. His hands were calloused and cut up—a map of his life that belied the innocence of his face. Part of the story is that Shafiq’s character, Chaipau, falls in love with a young Nepali girl who’s sold as a prostitute in Kamathipura, the red light district of Bombay. This scene is that moment when he first sees her being brought in and seizes upon her. The car is actually moving, and he runs with the car, calling her name. With profits from the film we set up educational centers for street kids, and more than 5,000 street children come through our center annually. So this film—and, specifically this image—have become the anthem of that.*
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