Salaam Bombay! (1989)

After being published in 1989, "Salaam Bombay!" has been considered as a critically acclaimed film, becoming the second one in the top best Indian movies nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Mira Nair directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the film with Sooni Taraporevala, and it provides watchers a detailed look into the world of narcotics, prostitution, and child labor in India's slums. What inspired Nair to make the film is the spirit of Bombay's street children, as well as how they lived. The National Film Development Corporation of India helped co-finance the film, which began production in early 1988. The picture grossed an estimated $7.4 million at the international box office after its worldwide premiere on October 6, 1988, despite a production budget of $450,000.

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 61st Academy Awards, the film was not only known as India's second film submission to be so nominated but it also won the Caméra d'Or and Audience award at the Cannes Film Festival, two National Awards, and three awards at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film was among the list of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" by The New York Times.