DVD

Salaam Bombay (Widescreen Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Salaam Bombay
Resilient and Resourceful Children
Great edition of this -must have- movie
Life for Homeless Children on the Streets of Bombay
a brilliant debut for Mira Nair......

Salaam Bombay (Widescreen Special Edition)
Starring: Shafiq Syed , Hansa Vithal , Chanda Sharma , Raghuvir Yadav , and Anita Kanwar
Director: Mira Nair
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00007KQ9V
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Amazon.com

Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) adds her angry voice to the cinema of forgotten children in this wrenching drama of an 11-year-old boy (real-life street kid Shafiq Syed) who heads to the big city and joins a sea of homeless kids and down-and-out adults scrambling to survive the pitiless streets. The fantasy of Bollywood dreams hangs just out of reach in posters, movies, and radio tunes, momentary respites from the hard reality of a world ruled by brutal pimps and drug dealers. In the tradition of Los Olvidados and Pixote, former documentarian Nair's feature debut is shot entirely in the slums of Bombay with a largely nonprofessional cast from the same streets. Though the drama is at times misty and melodramatic, her clear-eyed look at the mercenary world around these ultimately fragile forgotten children earned her the Caméra D'Or at Cannes in 1988. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding), this "brilliantly achieved, stunning and powerful" (Los Angeles Times) film "burst onto the Indian cinema scene with the force of a tornado" (Time Out London)! Winner of the Caméra d'Or at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® in 1989, this riveting look at life on the hardened streets of Bombay went on to accumulate accolades and awards across the globe! Forced to leave his family at a very young age, Krishna lives on the streets with pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts and other homeless children. He earns very little money - but it's more than most - delivering tea so he can return home to his family. But his honest plan is foiled when his hard-earned money is stolen by his closest friend, forcing Krishna to follow in the footsteps of so many street children of Bombay…by turning to a life of crime.

Customer Reviews:

Salaam Bombay.......2007-07-09

Former documentarist Mira Nair's angry, disconsolate, and deeply moving drama about poverty and child homelessness in India was shot on location and stars a cast of non-actors the director recruited from Bombay slums. Like De Sica and other Italian neorealists, Nair focuses with unblinking tenderness on the blighted lives of her protagonists, juxtaposing Krishna's squalid existence with the lush extravagance of the Bollywood musicals he so enjoys. Great performances, affecting imagery, and a heartbreaking plotline deservedly won "Salaam" worldwide acclaim.

Resilient and Resourceful Children.......2007-07-04

I'm glad I bought this - wouldn't have missed it for the world. The fact that it's a docu-drama makes it all the more watchable - you know a lot of the children are really street kids in India, not trained actors. The kids' innocence, trust, devilishness, loyalty, and resilience will break your heart. The special features also reveal plenty of interesting, amusing and heartwarming titbits. I've already watched it twice, and I'll defintely watch it again, if only just to remind myself that people can do so much with so little at hand.

Great edition of this -must have- movie.......2007-01-05

This is fantastic movie with such a warm and moving story. This edition includes director naration options as well as the director of photography. It is very interesting to watch this movie a second and third time listening to their narration of events during the making of this classic.

Life for Homeless Children on the Streets of Bombay.......2006-11-07

Mira Nair shows the realities of living on the streets in Bombay where children sleep under bridges and sell tea to the prostitutes in brothels as they try to earn money to live from day to day ... Primarily, the film revolves around Krishna, a young boy of 11 years, who left his village to work on the streets of Bombay to earn 500 rupees to pay back his brother, whose bicycle he destroyed. He becomes part of a group of kids who hang out together and look out for one another ... They associate with drug dealers and prostitutes. While the film does show how drugs can destroy lives and how young innocent girls are lured into prostitution there is also a truthfulness and innocence which is conveyed ... The film depicts how the kids survive amidst poverty and how they manage to create a sustainable lifestyle with some semblance of happiness and a wonder for life despite having next to nothing in a material sense.

One of the best extra features on this DVD is the commentary by the director. Mira Nair provides insights into how many of the unique scenes were shot. She discusses particular angles and views used by the camera to capture the pure honesty of this lifestyle. She also describes difficulties encountered and how they were resolved, the major one was meeting the budget, the other was was getting big name actors and actresses for the key roles. Fortunately the subject matter was of such importance, a large British studio Filfour agreed to help fund the project if Ms Nair could raise 51% of the budget herself. Another plus was, the subject of the film was deemed a "governement film" and therefore she received funds as well as access to areas which otherwise would be denied, such as the children's home where street kids were taken after arrested. Ms Nair managed to get a popular male stage actor who had never done films to play one of the lead roles and to her delight, he has since become one of India's most famous leading male film actors. She also snared a popular female television soap opera star to play the female lead ...

One of the most unusual but appealing elements in this film is how Ms Nair used actual street children to be the key actors in the film. She held auditions and made selections then held seven week long workshops where they learned their parts via pictures of scenes which they memorized. Another captivating aspect of this film is how real streets with shop keepers and shoppers were filmed along with the real train station and the natural activities which fit the storyline of the film. This film is a magnificent study of a way of life that few people can imagine but it is all too common in poverty stricken areas of the world. Through this film, Mira Nair has brought the attention of the world to the plight of homeless children in India. She has made a great contribution to improving their lives on many levels. Due to her efforts, trusts have been established in Bombay and other major cities to educate and assist these children. The film itself is a mix of documentary and fiction which captures the intimate details of their reality in vivid color, detail, and honesty. This is a most highly recommended film. Erika Borsos {pepper flower}

a brilliant debut for Mira Nair.............2005-11-29

Salaam Bombay, the critically acclaimed, award-winning film debut, for director and producer, Mira Nair, lives on as a timeless ode to the poverty, hopelessness and tragedy of young street kids, and other residents of the ghettos of Bombay (now Mumbai), India. Nair clearly did her research, for this film, manages to bring out stunningly powerful acting in her young actors (particularly, the lead actor, Shafiq Sayed, as Krishna), and leaves us with haunting and cautionary imagery of the sad reality of street life.

Krishna is a young, uneducated Indian boy, from a small village, who ventures out into Bombay, via train, when he must repay 500 rupees to his family, for reasons that aren't clear to us. He ends up in the one of the poorest, most desolate sections of town, amongst the street urchins and prostitutes. What start out as a transitional living space, for him, and lifestyle (as he makes his money, selling chai), becomes all the more permanent and--ultimately--impossible. He encounters Chillum, a drugdealer he befriends, who starts out as an ally, but whose character and relationship to him changes overtime. He also meets Manju, the daughter of a prostitute, so young and, yet, already so exposed to the darker side of life.

As the film progresses, we forget that these children are acting, and this is a recreation of real-life events. It is amazing, thought-provoking and ultimately heartbreaking......This was only the beginning, for Nair, who has gone on to have a remarkable and brilliant body of work...

Average customer rating:

cheated
HELLOOOOO, people....it's NOT THE SHOW....
Salaam "Bombay Dreams"
The Dream Is Alive
Misleading and Dull

Salaam "Bombay Dreams"
Starring: Andrew Lloyd Webber , AR Rahman , Meera Syal , and Steven Pimlott
Manufacturer: Eagle Vision USA
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bombay Dreams (2002 Original London Cast)
Broadway's Lost Treasures III - The Best of the Tony Awards
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ASIN: B00024I19Q
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Description

In June 2002, London's West End was taken by storm when Andrew Lloyd Webber presented a new musical phenomenon - AR Rahman's Bombay Dreams. This lavish and breathtaking production which combines the glamour of the movies, heart-aching romance and epic spectacle, won the acclaim of audiences and critics alike. It was labelled as London's "hottest most exotic new musical", "one of the wonders of the West End" and "the best musical since The Phantom of the Opera".

Salaam Bombay Dreams is an exclusive and exciting look behind the scenes of the musical and includes footage and interviews with the team behind this spectacular epic. From Madras and Mumbai, to London, you can follow the producer, the creative team and the cast as they bring together this lavish production. Glimpse into the world of phenomenal Indian composer AR Rahman, of magnificent sets, glittering costumes, inspirational choreography, superb script writing and brilliant lyrics.

From rehearsal to opening night and a Gala Performance with a visit by Her Majesty the Queen, Salaam Bombay Dreams also features the sights and sounds of the show providing a fascinating journey through this Bollywood musical hit.

Customer Reviews:

cheated.......2007-01-31

I wanted the soundtrack for the play and while i found that it showed this DVD with it so I bought it thinking it was a DVD of the play, when I got it today found out that the DVD was a behind the scenes and making of only not the play. Feel this was kind of misleading. The DVD itself is ok but not at all what I was looking for.

HELLOOOOO, people....it's NOT THE SHOW...........2006-12-30

....its a documentary. So to slam it because it didn't show all the show numbers is a little unfair. Granted, I really lust after getting my hands on a DVD of the full production, but until that happens, and for what this DVD is, it does the show great justice.

Then there are the few reviewers who seem to hate the show itself; well, it's their loss and I couldn't disagree more. This is a musical fashioned in the Bollywood style which is indeed quite different than what the stock and trade American Musical looks and feels like. One really need to be a bit more sophistocated to see beyond the what is normally expected and to understand the different style and then to go with it. Of course if you are expecting A Chorus Line and mentally demanding not to be challenge, then of course you are not going to "get" "Bombay Dreams," but that's not a weakness in the production, but perhaps the result of a closed mind.

This wasn't a tourist trap show as one comment refered to it. The reason it had a short run (only relatively speaking -- it could have run MUCH longer if it were in a smaller house) was because it followed a musical genre which many theatre-goers were not familiar with, ESPECIALLY tourists. For all those out-of-towners who go to the real tourists traps and sit there with open mouths -- "42nd Street," "Babes in Arms," "Cats," et al, "Bombay Dreams" was just too off-center for those who have limited meat & potatoes tastes.

Talking with both the stage manager and house manager at the very last performance the day it closed, I asked why in the world was this marvelous show closing? The answer was that because of the huge cast and unusually large technical crew as well as the theatre they were in, they needed 95% capacity every night to make the house nut, including salaries. That is an unusually high number for even the hottest tourist traps. That, plus given the fact that is was perceived as having a "foreign" theme and flavor, not enough of the public was willing to give it a chance. Such a shame...and their loss!

Those who were daring enough to stray outside the lines found a vibrant, energy-packed musical that, in my opinion, rivals anything the American Musical Theatre has produced in decades. The cast generated more excitment and more energy on that stage than I have seen in even the highly raved top sellers of many seasons.

One of the previous comments refered to this as "excess." Well, if choreography that is so exciting it gives the illusion that the dancers are levitating off the stage floor and if the incredible dancing precision between 40 dancers gives the illusion that these people one organism rather than individuals, and if the melodic content of the music is so magnetic that you can't get the songs out of your mind for days after you leave the theatre, then yes, I guess this is excess, but in this case it happens to be a GOOD thing.

With all due respect to the reviewer to ragged on this show -- hey it did fine in London; I guess it needs to play where it can get an audience with bit broader, more open minded taste than what it found in New York, or at least theatre-goers who are less jaded.

And again, as for this DVD -- for what is is, i.e., a "making of..." documentary, it does very well indeed, giving great insight into how the show was put together. You do get to see quite a bit of the dances and music along with the nuts and bolts of what goes into mounting such an monumental production. I think it does as well or even better than many other "making of's" that I've seen -- hence, 3 out of 5.

Salaam "Bombay Dreams".......2006-11-05

I was extremely disappointed when I received this DVD and realized that it was about the making of "Bombay Dreams" and was not the musical itself. I had seen "Bombay Dreams" on Broadway, enjoyed it very much, and could not understand why it had such a short run. But a DVD about the making of the musical was not something I would have watched more than once, out of curiosity, which is why I returned the it without opening the case.

The Dream Is Alive.......2006-09-01

Although it could be shorter and the DVD lacks the energy that live theatre offers, there are some little moments when they show the rehearsals in India that were just fantastic and it shows how it all began.

Misleading and Dull.......2006-04-20

This monotonous "documentary" shows all the drama behind the stage show, but none of the show itself. This may be a blessing. Many reputable critics have written that this musical is just another painful exercise in Andrew Lloyd Weber excess, and this wretched DVD leads one to believe that these London West End "hits" are nothing more than tourist traps for ignorant and unsophisticated theatre goers. As proof, even the tasteless crowds of NYC couldn't somach this vile mess of Hindu music and retarded dance numbers, and the show closed within a matter of months.

Average customer rating:

Salam Bombay
An eclectic, evocative and wholly outstanding collection
A FILM NOT SOON FORGOTTEN....
Magnificent film!
India's Urban Experience

Salaam Bombay!
Starring: Shafiq Syed , Hansa Vithal , Chanda Sharma , Raghuvir Yadav , and Anita Kanwar
Director: Mira Nair
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Salaam Bombay (Widescreen Special Edition)

ASIN: B000065UH1

Customer Reviews:

Salam Bombay.......2005-07-05

I HAD SEEN THIS MOVIE SOME FOUR YEARS WHEN I RENTED IT. IHAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT IN LARGE VIDEO RENTAL AND SELLING STORES WITHOUT SUCCESS. IT IS EMOTIONALLY CHARGED ABOUT LIFE OF A BOY. LAST SHOT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES

An eclectic, evocative and wholly outstanding collection.......2003-01-09

Composed by renowned South Indian recording artist L. Subramaniam, the "Salaam Bombay!" soundtrack features an invigorating blend of jazz and traditional Indian styles that serves to emotively embellish the movie's heart-wrenching tale. In fusing east with west in the plaintive and the frenetic, the work also manages to gloriously capture the spirit that defines the remarkable city that is Bombay. The album is not just distinguished though by its innovativeness or even its evocativeness, but also by the sheer brilliance of the musicianship on display. Track number 6 ["Chillum's Theme" - this song does not appear in its entirety in the motion picture], for instance, remains what is, in my opinion, one of the most incredible pieces of music to have graced my ears.

A FILM NOT SOON FORGOTTEN...........2002-01-21

This is a superb film that gives the viewer a bird's eye view into the plight of India's urban street children. It is done through the experience of young Krishna, an illiterate, country bumpkin of a boy, who is abandoned by his mother at a circus and told not to come home until he has five hundred rupees for having broken something that belonged to his brother. While Krishna is on an errand, the circus packs up and leaves town, and he is left alone to fend for himself.

Krishna uses his last few rupees to travel to a city, which by luck of the draw turns out to be Bombay. Thrust into the life of the street children of Bombay, living among the pimps, hustlers, drug addicts, prostitutes, and throw away children that proliferate in India's urban settlements, a modern day jungle, Krishna struggles to survive. His resourcefulness holds him in good stead. He quickly develops some street smarts and forms attachments. He struggles to earn and save money, so that he can return home to his mother and the family whom he misses, only to be duped in the end by one whom he had trusted. His story breaks one's heart, as he learns some hard lessons in life.

This is a gritty look into the underbelly and plight of Bombay's poor street children, who call the gutters of its filthy urban streets home. It is filled with the sights and sounds of this urban nightmare. An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, this highly acclaimed film allows the viewer a peek at another culture, only to find that basic human needs and desires are universal.

Magnificent film!.......2001-08-15

This is fantastic! Great music, Great story, Awesome photography! I promise you will love this film.

India's Urban Experience.......2001-08-05

Salaam Bombay is an excellent portrayal of a slice-of-life in India's urban settlements. After I witnessed New Delhi's urban environment a year ago, Salaam Bombay serves as an ideal example of the lack of human basic needs in India. This film is full of common themes in India's less developed cities: migration, poverty, and employment, ECT... This film is great! No other film captures India's true urban situation.

Average customer rating:

Being Cyrus

Manufacturer: Eros
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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