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By IndiaFM News Bureau, September 27, 2006 - 10:21 IST
A frayed rug round his shoulders,
My father came down the Sahyadris
And stood at your doorstep,
With only his labour in his hands.
From “Mumbai” by Narayan Surve
 The
multilingual Bombay, the Bombay of intolerance, the
Bombay of closed mills, of popular culture, sprawling
slums and real estate onslaughts, the metropolis of
numerous ghettos, the El Dorado. This film is a tale
of the cities of Bom Bahia / Bombay / Mumbai, through
a tapestry of fiction, cinema vérité, art objects,
found footage, sound installation and literary texts.
The non-fiction feature film is structured around
imaginary debates between Ismat Chugtai and Sa’adat
Hasan Manto, the two legendary writers who lived in
this metropolis, over the art of chronicling these
multi-layered overlapping cities. Shot mainly during
the monsoon the film portrays some extremely beautiful
yet ruthlessly violent features of Bombay which,
generally, are not part of the popular narratives.
How does the city look like from the point of view of
the men who hang on the sky to clean the glass windows
of skyscrapers? How does a monsoon evening sky look
like from the point of view of an aspiring migrant
entering the city by train? The hypnotism of Bollywood,
the aspiration of a mega-metropolis, the possibilities
in a multi-cultural city encourages a horde of single
women from the sub-continent to jump into the
adventure that is living in Bombay.
The spectators get a bicycle ride through the deserted
lanes of south Mumbai at the dead of the night with
coffee vendors; a young migrant who drives a bulldozer
for a living, makes candid confession that he razed
his own nest as a call of duty. The Portuguese, the
Pathare Prabhu, the Parsee, the Bohri Muslim, the Koli
– all professes undying love for the metaphor of
Bombay, Bombay Duck. Yet the same Bombay duck turns
into the centre of fierce contests over space in
Mumbai. While Bombaiyas pray for the well being of
their city in the wish making site of Mount Mary
church.
The film is a tribute to the spirit of Bombay, which
is fascinating and scary at the same time. As a stunt
woman from Bollywood (who worked in Sholay, Mard, Sita
aur Gita etc.) sums up: hume muhn chhupane ka 2000
milta hai aur muhn dikhane ka 1000. (We get Rs.2000
for hiding our face and Rs. 1000 for showing it).
The film is divided into 7 parts:
1. Checknaka: deals with labour and migration, loss of
opportunities and new
possibilities
2. Construction Site: deals with stories of looking
for homes in Mumbai.
3. Pillion riders: tells the stories of people who are
invisible in our social
discourse (late night vendors, bar dancers, late night
movie goers, stunt woman in Bollywood etc.)
4. Chronology: elaborates on people’s contests over
the ownership of Bombay
5. Left Luggage: deals with the identity politics and
people’s loss of hope in the context of riots in
1992-93
6. Reclaimation: Bombay indominatable spirit to
reclaim land from the sea and sanity from the chaos.
7. Faith: the city wins, the morning local trains
chugs in as a triumph over
apprehensions and misgivings.
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