Mumbai - Post Report Question and Answers

Do you recommend any books or movies about this city/country for those who are interested in learning more?

Don’t read Shantaram. Read In Spite of the Gods, Maximum City, India after Ghandi, White Tiger, Sea of Poppies (or anything by Amitav Ghosh). Watch any Sharukh Khan Bollywood films, Made in Heaven or Modern Love Mumbai on Prime, India From Above on NatGeo. - Apr 2024


Behind the Beautiful Forevers; Slumdog Millionaire. - Jul 2023


Just start watching Bollywood movies. There are some great ones out there! I read the Palace of Illusion as part of a book club, which was really interesting to be able to learn a little more of the stories of the Mahabharata. I also read The God of Small Things. There are lots of books out there, so just start googling to find what you are interested in. - May 2023


Books: Shantaram, India in the 21st Century, Maximum City, Movies: Gully Boy, Slumdog Millionaire. - Nov 2020


There are loads out there. None in particular I’d recommend, but it’s worth reading up on the culture a bit before coming. - Aug 2019


Slumdog Millionaire. Lion (set in Kolkata, but it still paints an accurate picture). - Mar 2019


Maximum city & slum dog billionaire - May 2018


Slumdog Millionaire (it is based on truth, regardless of what anyone tells you). - Jun 2017


Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. This is a true story of families in one of Mumbai's large slums, written by an investigative journalist who 'embedded' herself there for several years. A Son of the Circus (Ballantine Reader's Circle) . I read this book long before I ever thought I'd even visit India, let alone live here. I re-read it after we'd been here six months or so, and it was sort of amazing what things were now familiar to me. It's just a great novel, too. - Nov 2014


Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Shantaram: A Novel, The White Tiger: A Novel - Mar 2014


- Feb 2014


- Feb 2014


, - Aug 2013


Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (2003) Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta (2004) Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (2012) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (1981) Haroun and a Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (1990) Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl A blog called Mumbai Boss for lots of things to do in and around Mumbai. Restaurant review, etc. - May 2013


Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta (but wait until you've been in Mumbai a while before reading).The Elephant, The Tiger, And the Cell Phone: Reflections on India - the Emerging 21st-Century Power by Shashi Tharoor. - Feb 2013


Shantaram, Maximum City, India after Gandhi. - Dec 2010


Maximum City. - Aug 2008


Midnights Children (Rushdie); A Fine Balance (Mistry); Shantaram. - Aug 2008


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