However it felt like I had seen this movie before. Slumdog Millionaire seems to be one part Salaam Bombay! (the life of kids in Mumbai slums), one part Satya (the gangsta portions) and one part any Bollywood romance blended together to achieve impressive results. The connection between Slumdog and Satya runs a little deeper. Saurabh Shukla, who played the character of Seargent Srinivas (the fat nearly bald cop who tortures the hero at the start of the movie) in Slumdog was not only one of the characters in Satya (Kallu Mama) but was also one of the writers for Satya. As I dug deeper into Mr. Shukla’s history, I came across this article in The Independent where Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog, claimed that Satya was one of his reference points while filming Slumdog Millionaire.
Salaam Bombay!