Summary
Highlights
Mumbai, with its 22 million inhabitants, is the economic and financial capital of India. Each morning, the city is brought to a halt by huge traffic jams. Eight million people take the train each day, but the railway network only has four lines. At rush hour, stations are swarming with people, and commuters like Vinit, a 26-year-old accountant, face a grueling one-and-a-half-hour commute, often having to elbow their way onto overcrowded trains.
The daily commute on Mumbai's trains is not fun for every passenger, and some never even reach their destination. Casualties are commonplace due to overcrowding and people hanging onto or leaning out of trains. In 2019, 2,691 people died on Mumbai's railways, an average of seven deaths a day. Samir Zaveri, who lost both his legs in a train accident 30 years ago, now persistently lobbies authorities to increase train safety, demanding closed doors and free emergency medical services for the injured. To alleviate overcrowding, four subway lines are under construction, but the city faces many other challenges.
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is India's economic center. Its population has skyrocketed from 3 million in 1951 to 22 million today, projected to reach 30 million by 2035. To address the lack of space, hundreds of high-rise luxury apartments are being built for the wealthy upper class, aspiring to a European lifestyle. These developments often involve demolishing hundreds of acres of slums, home to 50% of Mumbai's population. This rapid expansion is also encroaching upon the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, leading to increased leopard attacks in new neighborhoods.
The Dharavi slum, the biggest in Asia, houses one million people in just under one square mile, with a population density 20 times that of Paris. Despite precarious electricity, limited water, and a non-existent sewage system, Dharavi is a hub of enterprise, home to thousands of businesses. Mahesh, a 27-year-old, runs a successful plastic recycling business that employs 25 people and contributes to cleaning up the city. His business is part of Dharavi's informal economy, generating over $800 million annually.
Mahesh, living in a small room with his family, is content with his improved living conditions, which include solid walls, water, and electricity, a significant upgrade from the wooden houses of the past. He also owns and rents out other floors of his house to tenants. Imran, a 29-year-old boss of a leather shop in Dharavi, is ambitious, aiming to elevate his brand to the level of luxury labels. His father, Wahas, started the business 40 years ago, fleeing poverty and working tirelessly. Wahas's success enabled the family to buy a $360,000 apartment on the top floor of a high-rise building, symbolizing the dream of upward mobility in Mumbai.
In Mumbai, wealth is often associated with living higher up in skyscrapers, offering a calmer life away from the city's pollution and noise. Babulal Varma, a successful real estate broker, lives in a lavish apartment and leads Omkar, a company specializing in slum rehabilitation. He believes building higher is a necessity due to Mumbai's limited space and growing population. His ultimate goal is to demolish Dharavi to make way for modern developments, viewing the slum as an unsightly element of the city.
Babulal Varma's company, Omkar, is involved in massive slum rehabilitation projects, such as building four 820-feet high skyscrapers in Malad on former slum land, aimed at the emerging middle class. These projects offer luxurious apartments, like the one priced at $780,000 that Raj and his family consider. Developers are legally required to relocate slum residents, providing them with new housing. However, the reality for relocated residents, like those in Worli, often falls short of promises, with dilapidated buildings, lack of infrastructure, and unfulfilled amenities. Many residents who don't meet the criteria for new housing are moved to the city's outskirts, such as the Lallubhai compound, where 50,000 people live in decrepit apartments, facing diminished quality of life.
Every day, 1,500 migrants settle in Mumbai, many taking on odd jobs. Among the most incredible workers are the dabbawalas, who deliver packed lunches on bicycles. This 130-year-old system is remarkably reliable, with 5,000 dabbawalas exchanging lunch boxes based on complex visual codes, as many are illiterate. Shankar, a 23-year-old dabbawala, earns $163 a month, a demanding job passed down through generations. Despite the challenges, the dabbawalas deliver 73 million meals annually, a system so efficient it has been studied by Harvard University.
While some traditions persist, Mumbai also looks to the future, exemplified by Bandra, a trendy neighborhood on the Arabian Sea, favored by Bollywood actors and artists. Janita, a 32-year-old model and influencer with 90,000 Instagram followers, represents Mumbai's high society and entrepreneurial spirit. She launched a vegan leather fashion brand, catering to modern Indian women. French entrepreneurs Antonia, Jeremy, and Pierre have also found success in Mumbai, owning a chain of organic restaurants and a bakery. They've capitalized on the city's dynamism, expanding into new corporate hubs like Bandra Kurla Complex, where businesspeople have significant purchasing power. Their Indian staff, part of the emerging middle class, see new opportunities through their employment.
Mumbai's expanding population is encroaching on protected natural areas, leading to severe conflict between residents and wildlife in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Leopards from the park venture into residential areas, attacking dogs and occasionally humans. Ranjit Jadhav, a wildlife photographer, observes that leopards are no longer afraid of human settlements. Residents in areas like Aray colony live in fear of attacks, demanding street lighting and the caging of leopards. The city has deployed a squad, led by Santosh Bania, to prevent feline incursions. Despite reassurances, the number of attacks has escalated, with 24 fatal attacks in 2020 in Maharashtra. Muthuvel and his wife tragically lost their four-year-old daughter to a leopard attack. At the Leopard Rescue Centre, Mukesh More attributes the conflict to human encroachment on animal habitats, noting that leopards have adapted to urban living, with their numbers increasing by 30% in five years. Mumbai is projected to become the world's most populated city by 2050, further intensifying this man-animal conflict. Notably, Babulal Varma, the real estate broker, was incarcerated on suspicion of fraud after the film's completion.