rating 6.5
trailers and stuffDirector: Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast: Kunal Khemu Neetu Chandra Upendra Limaye Ranvir Shorey Manish Mehta
A Bollywood movie titled Silsila was released during the year 1981. This was the very day that a son was born to a patron, who decided to name him Silsila. This child would end up on the streets of Bombay straight into the arms of a destitute woman named Maushi, who is also mother to a woman named Sushma. Silsila would grow up on this street, and eventually would become a collector of ‘haftas’ or weekly bribes, from local businesses as well as beggars, pimps, flower-sellers, eunuchs, et Al. Silsila operates from a traffic signal which is located at Sitaram Kelkar Marg near Mahim Railway Station. It is here beggars beg and petty merchants sell their wares to cars that come to a stop at the signal. Amongst Silsila’s clientèle are Noorie - a prostitute; Dominic D’Souza - a drug addict and con-man; Gullu - a transvestite prostitute; Manya - a crippled beggar; Paaya - a child who works in a meat shop; Chinta Swami - a rag collector, whose parents, though dead, are still considered missing in the Tsunami disaster; Damber - who sells newspapers and hope to be fair-skinned someday. Silsila’s latest client are Rani and her sister Chutki, who had taken a loan, bought several Gujarati-style clothes and jewelery. Silsila meets with all his client every week, and gets the collections, which he then passes on to Jaffar Patni, who in turn passes them on to Baba Sheikh - who in turn uses the Hawala method to transfer these funds to Dubai-based gangsters. Rasiklal is a builder, who quickly wants to sell his flats, but is unable to do so until and unless a flyover is built in his area. He meets with M.L.A. Dubey, and together they attempt to convince Municipal Chief Engineer, Sailesh Jha, but in vain. Then Dubey calls upon Baba Sheikh to get in touch with his Dubai bosses, so that they kill Sailesh, ensure that the files are assigned to a more corrupt Chief Engineer, who will then authorize the flyover. The plan takes effect, and with the help of Silsila and other street-smart beggars, Sailesh is killed. Little do Silsila and the others know that their traffic signal will soon be uprooted to make way for the new flyover, and all of them will be in a state of despair and destitution.::rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)