Salaam Bombay!

Salaam Bombay!
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMira Nair
Screenplay bySooni Taraporevala
Story byMira Nair
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySandi Sissel
Edited byBarry Alexander Brown
Music byL. Subramaniam
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Alliance (Canada)
  • Cinecom Pictures (USA)
  • Dendy Films (Australia)
  • Transmundo Films (Argentina)
  • Tamasa Distribution (France)
Release dates
  • May 11, 1988 (1988-05-11) (Cannes Film Festival)
  • September 13, 1988 (1988-09-13) (TIFF)
  • October 7, 1988 (1988-10-07) (Worldwide)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget$450,000
Box officeest. $7.5 million (overseas)

Salaam Bombay! is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film, produced and directed by Mira Nair, in her feature directorial debut. Nair's story idea was expanded into a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. Salaam Bombay! depicts the daily lives of children living in slums in Bombay (now Mumbai), India's largest city. It stars Shafiq Syed, Raghuvir Yadav, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Hansa Vithal and Chanda Sharma.

Nair's inspiration for the film came from the spirit of Bombay's street children and how they lived. Production began in early 1988, with the National Film Development Corporation of India co-financing the film.

Salaam Bombay! had its world premiere at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim and won the Caméra d'Or. After being released worldwide on 6 October 1988, Salaam Bombay! grossed an estimated $7.4 million at the overseas box office, against a production budget of $450,000. At the 61st Academy Awards, it became only the second Indian film to receive a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It has also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, the National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film and three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film was on the list of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" by The New York Times.