NEW DEHLI: Twenty five years after it hit the screens, Mira Nair’s 1988 film Salaam Bombay!, which also bagged an Oscar nomination, is re-releasing March 22. The film-maker is “absolutely thrilled” with the news.
“It’s absolutely thrilling to bring Salaam Bombay! to a new generation of young people. The story is as alive today,” Nair said in a statement.
The movie is a gritty tale set in the red light district in Mumbai and chronicles the day-to-day life of street children, drug dealers and prostitutes. It follows the life of a young child, Krishna, who has come to the big city to earn INR500 and is nurturing the dream of going back to his mother someday.
The actors in the movie were real prostitutes and the street kids of the city, apart from some known names like Shafiq Syed, Irrfan, Raghuvir Yadav, Nana Patekar, Chanda Sharma and Anita Kanwar.
The movie, which won the National film award for best feature film in Hindi and even picked awards at the Cannes International Film Festival, is being brought back to theatres through PVR Director’s Rare. It is an alternative programming initiative of PVR Cinemas to support the theatrical release of critically acclaimed, independent films.
Salaam Bombay! will release in PVR Cinemas and Cinemax at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune and Gurgaon.
“The movie is a stunning chronicle that opened doors for Indian cinema globally. Through our platform PVR Director’s Rare, it is an excellent opportunity to revive Salaam Bombay! for today’s audiences,” said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, joint managing director, PVR Ltd.
“Mira Nair has effectively captured the struggle of the street children and the true essence of a city like Mumbai. We hope to continue bringing such meaningful cinema to our patrons in the future too,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2013.
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