Bombay (1995)
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Director: Maniratnam
Music: A.R.Rahman
Camera: Santosh Sivan
Editing: Suresh Urs
Bombay (1995) is an award-winning Tamil feature film drama directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, with music composed by A. R. Rahman. The film met with a strong reception upon release.
The film is centred on events, particularly during the period of December 1992 to January 1993 in India, and the controversy surrounding the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Increased religious tensions in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) led to the Bombay Riots. Shekhar (Arvind Swamy) is the son of traditional Hindu parents. He is studying journalism in Bombay and returns to his village where he comes across Shaila Bano, (Manisha Koirala), a Muslim schoolgirl. The story revolves around their relationship in the midst of religious tension.
Eventually becoming one of the highest grossing films of the Chennai film industry, the film caused considerable controversy upon release in India and abroad for its depiction of inter-religious relations. Well received critically and commercially, it was screened at many international film festivals including the Philadelphia Film Festival in 1996 where it was an audience favourite.
The film was banned in Singapore, and Malaysia upon release.
In July 2005, a book on the film by Lalitha Gopalan was published by BFI Modern Classics, looking at the film's production, the several issues it covered, and its impact upon release in India and abroad.
Awards
The film has won the following awards since its release:
National
1996 National Film Awards
Won - Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration - Mani Ratnam
Won - Best Editing - Suresh Urs
1996 Filmfare Awards
Won - Best Film (Critics) - Mani Ratnam
Won - Best Performer (Critics) - Manisha Koirala
1996 Filmfare Awards South
Won - Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) - A. R. Rahman
1995 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
Won - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director - A. R. Rahman
Won - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist - Vairamuthu
International
1996 Political Film Society Awards (United States)
Won - Special Award - Bombay - Mani Ratnam
MusicThe track "Bombay Theme" from the soundtrack is an instrumental orchestral piece composed, arranged and conducted by A. R. Rahman. It was recently featured in the soundtrack and score of the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War, released in 2005. It has appeared on several compillation CDs since the film's release including on Volume 5 of the chill-out compilation Café del Mar, released in 1998. It also appeared on a French TV commercial for Volvic starring Zinedine Zidane in 2000. The soundtrack also found success in its dubbed versions.