Bombay

Summary

 Is the story of two lovers Shekhar and Shailaboth of whom live in the India, one is Hindu the other Muslim, which is major problem in India.  The two lovers decide to run-off together, since it will be impossible for them to be together in the native villages. So both run off to Bombay, which today is Mumbai, there they star a new life together including having two boys. There is a lot of tension on the city all-religious, due to the demolition of the Babri Mosque, of which there is a short montage of the event that lead to rioting in the film. One day both fathers of Shekhar and Shailaboth show up after years of absence; both men begin to get along and save one another from what appears to be certain death, all for the love of the grandchildren. During the riots the two boys a separated from their families, and have to survive in a place where they are not accepted because they are neither Muslim nor Hindu. In the end they are nearly killed by an anger mob but are saved by their father but suffer haunting memories their experiences.

Theme

Religion is the major them in this movie. This is always a big topic in any culture; in this film it is a big problem. It such a big problem that people want to kill each other over the smallest things like the movement of building materials; in fact the Hindu grandfather in nearly killed when confronted buy a group of Muslims. Another theme is family and how no matter how much tension there is still important both grandfathers eventually coming looking for their children, and ask for forgiveness for the pasty behavior, especially when they learn they have grand children.

Reaction

This was not the first Bollywood film I have seen, but it was my favorite. Though there was the classic sinning that occurs in an Indian film, it did not distract from the main topic in the film, which was really serious. I was fascinated about how religion is taken so serious in other cultures; growing up in the United Sates religion sometimes gets lost especially amongst first generation Americans. Yet with all the bad things that occurred in the film, it was a love story that did everything to keep me into the film. Enough drama and a happy ending, it’s also important to note that this film is hard to get on DVD since it’s out of print, and if given the chance to see it you shouldn’t turn it down.