Former Kidderminster accountant Chris Way now offers horrified Western tourists a taste of the real Mumbai - a “Reality Tour” of the filthy slums of Dharavi for a mere $8.00.
Dharavi, where the tour takes place, is a 20 minute drive from Mumbai airport in an area where the locals fear to tread.
Tourists are taken around a rat-infested warren of tin shacks and open sewers where up to ten people share a room and where life expectancy is low and sanitation next to nothing.
Chris Way’s Reality Tours and Travel company is hoping the success of director Danny Boyle’s Golden Globe-winning film Slumdog Millionaire will improve business, and has pledged that 80% of profits will be pumped back into the community.
[Fame]
11 Comments
Feels a little exploitive but it’s great to hear that almost all the money goes back to help the people in the slums. I saw the movie and it was really breathtaking. It is crazy that they could find so much beauty in poverty.
Crazy. The first pic is like the stars of the films all over again.
It’s not exploitive, it’s just wrong.
It does feel exploitive…there will be a lot of people going there just because they’ve seen the movie not because they want to see what life is really like there. I don’t think I would be able to visit this place without wanting to get in there and do something to start making things better for the people that live there. I would feel terrible just walking past like a tourist.
“the real mumbai”… oh please … the real mumbai also has millions of middle & upper class families as well … stop painting india with the poverty brush - it isn’t! ….
as for dharavi … yes, many people from mumbai wouldn’t have any need to go there but it’s perfectly safe … it’s just poor families with very little - not gun/knife toting killers & amid all the bustle it’s relatively calm … it’s not run by gangs/drug cartels like in rio de janeiro etc…
Do you know that people in Dharavi hold regular jobs too? Many go to regular schools & colleges, have come up greatly in life.
Like any big city, people from all over India come to Mumbai in search of jobs, and they dont have a place to live! It is extremely expensive to even rent houses in mumbai…and thus began these slums…
It has not been easy for the authorities to vacate these people, they do not want alternative accomodation and thus the slum stays…
Mumbai is also the financial capital of India….you will see a teeming rich & middle class too!
I try to put myself in the shoes of those who probably never had any. Those on the receiving end may not share in the opinion that they’re being exploted if the end result places the worlds eye on them along with their money, As far as Mumbai is concerned, the “middle class, wealthy and rich” could all fit in the back of a rickshaw when compared to the extensive overwhelming poverty of India let alone old Bombay,
I saw Slumdog Millionaire today. Boyle has really done a good job with this movie. While the movie deals with the gory details of the underbelly of Mumbai, it doesnt really leave you with a sick feeling. The story feels like a commentary and at the end you just feel good about the whole movie. Very well done I must say.
The music score by Rehman is amazing, the actors who played junior Jamal and Salim were the real stars. They were simply too good. Freida Pinto had just 15 mins of screen presence. I think she was overhyped.
The movie at the core is one of hope.Despite living in bad conditions the resilience of the people is there to see.The movie is in a way a compliment to the people of India for looking forward instead of looking back.JAI HO!!
Its really fun to watch out a poor guy from slums creeping to such great heights. but some time i feel this movie has fail to satisfy all masses specially Indians. There are many reasons to it. but fairly the director has played with words and hearts.
Slumdog is a very good film, great to see stuff that is different, and all so real. A very good watch for any move fan.