Director's Statement

The India I grew up in was very different from what it is today. Back in the 70’s and 80’s it was a quasi-socialist, closed society. There were two types of cars on the roads and one channel on TV. Life outside the country was a mystery deciphered through the occasional Time or Life magazine. Even travel within the country was difficult.

Memories from one’s youth can be powerful. It may be more so in my case because of my parochial upbringing. Bonds of friendship were intense but felt somehow illicit. Growing up in the sleepy southern city of Trivandrum, Bombay seemed insurmountably far. But the ‘city of dreams’ had a grip on my psyche. Even back then, it was a city where anything seemed possible. Bombay Summer is the result of a long-held dream of making a film about youth culture in contemporary urban India.

India has changed drastically in the last decade. But the most pronounced change is happening among the youth. English educated college graduates suddenly have jobs and money to spend. And their impact goes beyond the economy. They are rearranging a centuries old social order.

The three protagonists are symbols of today’s Bombay. Geetha and Jaidev are true city insiders. She is middle-class, trying to balance a thriving career with the demands of her family while Jaidev comes from the traditionally rich, privileged class. Madan is the outsider chasing his dream in the big city.

The film is as much a story about their friendship as it is about the city in which they live. Like the characters, the city is also in the throes of change. Some of the locations like the chawl (tenement house) and the abandoned textile mill represent an era that is quickly receding and being replaced by mega malls and the consuming culture.