Salaam Bombay!

Back in 1988, Salaam Bombay blew open my teenage mind and sent it into the volatile world of children living on the streets of Bombay. Directed by Mira Nair, it tells the story of Krishna who by accident and mishap finds himself separated from his family and homeless, and so heads for Bombay's red light district where he becomes a tea seller and develops an attachment to Sola Saal, a young girl being groomed for sex work. Their entrapment in a world of petty crime, drugs, prostitution, and poverty hits hard, and their friendships and loyalties to one another are intense. As someone living a secure and comfortable life in the UK at the time, I found it deeply humbling. The film's impact is reinforced through all the lead roles being played by children who were street children themselves at the time, so the world they wre portraying wasthe world they knew. Highly recommended.