Midnight Asia: Eat Dance Dream (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Mumbai, India - full transcript
[intriguing music]
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
The nights are most special.
[rapping in Hindi]
♪ Used to sit and write at home ♪
♪ Now I am noticed ♪
♪ Silence is an answer too
I learn from it ♪
♪ Chances don't just come along
I grab them ♪
♪ Don't know about others
But I go straight through them ♪
♪ I set out to find a new world
And found new rules ♪
♪ Why do you sit dejected?
Get back up ♪
♪ How right are you?
Ask yourself, not them ♪
♪ Those who want to see you fall
Fly over them ♪
Maybe it's magic or something,
but at night when I sit down to write,
I come up with songs and ideas.
Mom stays up and gets annoyed
when I get home.
She'd say, "The Night King's home."
[chuckles]
[upbeat music]
[Bhanuj in English]
Mumbai is called the City of Dreams,
but I think of it more as a city
of sort of hustle and imagination.
It's always been a place
of exchange of ideas
and new technologies, new customs.
The face of India
to the rest of the world.
At night, the city sort of
invites introspection.
Everyone has a vision of themselves
that's not defined by what they are doing.
It's defined by what they could do
and what they want to do.
[Roshni] Mumbai had hustle
before "hustle" was a word.
It's a city that doesn't allow you
to stay still.
Mumbai is a city of migrants.
So, the diversity of India gets reflected
in the diversity of Mumbai.
And that's exactly what gives it
its vibrancy at night.
[Pooja] There's always chaos.
There's always noise.
There's always something happening.
Once I remember I was stuck in traffic
at 3 a.m. on Marine Drive,
and I was just wondering what is going on.
How is this normal?
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Night has a motivation
and alluring power that compels people
to go out and express themselves.
It takes a hold over you completely.
It's the energy of our city.
[theme music]
[horns honking]
[Bhanuj in English]
So, the energy of the city at night
is in one word, "manic."
Mumbai has approximately 20 million people
which makes it one of the densest
and one of the biggest cities in India.
It gets called the Maximum City because
kind of everything here
is turned up to 11.
The price of that
is that you are constantly hustling,
you are constantly struggling.
So, if you want to make it in Mumbai,
if you want to survive,
you have to improvise,
you have to innovate,
you have to find your space, build on it.
That energy is addictive.
That energy is what keeps
a lot of us going,
because it is one of the few places
where you can build your communities,
where you can find people
who allow you to be who you are.
[Ami] I love Mumbai by the night.
It's always bustling. Visuals, sounds.
Everything is going so fast,
it makes you move also.
In fact, it is too much stimulation.
There's a "crazy" attached to it.
But it's not just about it
being buzzing and fast,
it's also the number of opportunities
that it kind of opens up.
Two iced teas coming up for you.
[Ami] My dad was quite Parsi
and my mom is quite Marathi.
I was a cocktail right from the start.
[Roshni] Ami Shroff is one of the city's
most celebrated flair bartenders.
I've actually attended
a bartending workshop
where she was teaching us stuff.
She got us to practice,
and we were all like complete klutzes.
Like, making total fools of ourselves.
[Ami in English] One of my favorite moves
I do often is called "around the world."
You can, like, sort of go
into a pour directly,
or you can keep it going,
and then break into another move.
It looks cool, yeah!
So I'm going to make you
a Smoky Old-Fashioned.
[Roshni] She's not only setting
a benchmark on how it should be done,
but she is also opening doors
to a younger generation
that might have aspirations
and might have had reservations
because nobody had done it before them.
As a child, I loved being
in the center of attention.
And yeah, I always, I wanted a platform,
I wanted to be on stage.
It fascinated me when I first saw flair.
It's kind of like a dance.
Just the way you might do your pour,
pick up your peg measure,
uh, the way you might stir your cocktail,
the way you shake it.
You're playing with these objects,
you're creating these visuals.
It's beautiful, it's what pulled me
into bartending I think.
-[Ami] Thank you.
-[cheering]
The bar is open!
I'm joking!
-[chuckling]
-[customers cheering]
[relaxing music]
[Ami] I didn't realize as a child
the freedom that I actually received.
Girls, the way they're brought up,
they're told to be more careful
and not play too much or get hurt.
I didn't have that,
I didn't have these rules
that I'm supposed to be a certain way.
I was quite rebellious.
I was always inclined towards finding
places you're not supposed to go.
I wanted to go there,
and my mom would be like,
"Let her do what she wants" kind of thing.
I was allowed to just be
whoever I wanted to be.
Patio for you? I'll serve?
You didn't taste this, right?
Nice food!
Yeah, it's nice?
-We hardly sit down.
-Yeah.
[Ami] My parents both were feminists
in their own way.
My mom, maybe a few years she took off
when she had me and my sister.
And after that, she got back into work.
I think just that kind of a vibe
in the house,
where you see your parents as equals
right from the start,
makes you have
different perceptions as you grow up,
and to a certain extent also helped me
to frame my personality in a certain way.
[upbeat electronic music]
[Ami] So I've always felt like
I belong to Bombay.
Like, I was born here,
I was brought up here,
and it's a great city to be in.
As a woman, Bombay, I think,
relatively feels safer
than many other cities to be out at night.
At night also, you will see some women
more free to be how they want,
to dress how they want.
All these factors add
to the vibe of a place.
It feels like the whole city is yours.
You can just explore it.
-This is jaggery?
-[Ami] Yeah.
Ginger, lime, and, uh, jaggery,
and a touch of gin.
Make one more for me.
Done, done, done.
Very nice.
I feel really proud of her.
There are so many girls
who are also joining this profession
and she's the pioneer.
[laughs]
[Ami] I go to bars also
and I see a woman behind the bar,
someone who's experienced,
who's been doing it for a while,
it's beautiful to see that.
It's an amazing feeling to know
that you've been an inspiration
in any form of a manner to anyone.
Just trying new things,
or trying what they want to do,
or seeing the possibilities
of other professions out there
and other things possible.
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai is a city of hustlers.
I've been hustling from day one,
and I'm still doing it.
Mumbai streets have always been my teacher
because I've learned
from the slums of Mumbai,
more lessons than from inside
the classroom of a school.
When I was in school,
the teachers made us stand up
and tell everyone our names
and where we live.
I stood up and said, "I live in Dharavi."
So all the other kids laughed at me.
They said, "You live in Dharavi?"
"That's where thieves live."
At that time, I felt bad and embarrassed
about where I lived.
Hey. What's up, Sunil?
[in English]
Come on!
Whoo!
[in Hindi] But when I got to explore it,
I found it to be very beautiful.
[MC Altaf in English]
Sup! Sup!
[in Hindi] Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
stay together and chill together here.
There has been so much development lately
so people now see Dharavi
in a different light.
Everyone says Dharavi is heart-shaped.
So I think of Dharavi
as the heart of Mumbai.
-[man 1] Yeah, I know, man.
-[man 2] Yeah, man. Of course.
-[man 3] Yeah, totally…
-Boys in the hood?
-What's up, homie?
-Oh, hey!
[man 4] Let's do a cypher.
Let's have some fun.
[man 5] Good to see you again, dude.
Come on.
[rapping] ♪ You better scuttle
I won't go easy on you ♪
[all] ♪ Never! ♪
♪ The words take you high
Feel it, when I get down to it… ♪
[all] ♪ I spit lyrics! ♪
[MC Altaf]
Mumbai is a city that never sleeps.
Night is a space
where there are no interferences.
It's just us.
Let's go, sledge!
I meet dreamers and all types of people.
[Bhanuj in English] Hip-hop has been
growing in India for over a decade,
especially exploding
on the last couple of years.
It's telling the stories
of a certain section of the population
that has largely been underrepresented
in pop culture.
-♪ Both are a danger! An Olympic… ♪
-[all] ♪ Combo! ♪
-♪ The nature of people messes… ♪
-[all] ♪ With my mind! ♪
[Bhanuj in English]
A lot of the rappers in Mumbai
come from these working-class enclaves
like Dharavi.
Altaf is one of the second generation
of Mumbai rappers
who are really building on the sound,
evolving it into something
even more unique and more exciting.
-Yeah. Come on, man. Drop it.
-Awesome!
[rapping in Punjabi]
♪ I gaze upon green pastures! ♪
-♪ They spread to the horizons! ♪
-[all] ♪ The horizons! ♪
♪ I rap in Bombay, in a Punjabi code! ♪
-♪ Feel the melody! ♪
-[all] ♪ Melody! ♪
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai rap is different
because it has many different languages.
Marathi, Tamil, Hindi.
It's a powerful mix.
[rapping] ♪ You'll ask for less
We'll soak up a plastic ball ♪
-♪ We'll then play… ♪
-[rappers] ♪ Dodge ball! ♪
♪ Brings back memories
Of school holidays… ♪
[MC Altaf]
There is a story. There is pain.
[rapping continues]
People don't want to just listen
to songs about cars
because not everybody owns a car at home.
Not everyone goes to parties every day.
This is why Gully rap is so relatable.
Because those who hear it think,
"Yes, he's telling the story of my life
in a song."
[intriguing music]
When I'm rapping or making music,
I never think that
I'm only from the streets.
If I limited myself with that mentality,
I wouldn't be able to compete
with other rappers.
I always think of myself
in terms of hip-hop.
What I mean is, I can take on anyone.
I believe I'm as good as any of them.
After joining Gully Gang,
I started performing in different shows.
And now, even in different cities.
Gully Gang is a crew
that every boy from the street
dreams of joining,
a role model for upcoming artists
from the streets
who want to do something big someday.
[upbeat music]
[MC Altaf] I can't hear anything.
Can you hear my rap on the mic from there?
Karan, check my vocals.
Check my vocals, Karan.
-Is the mic off? It's off.
-[man] Is this better?
[MC Altaf in English] Check, check, check.
[rapping]
♪ Hard work has been my cheat code ♪
♪ Beast mode
I don't stop, I reload ♪
♪ I control the flow
Like I've got a remote ♪
[Karan] We have a sold-out event tonight,
and nobody knows
that Altaf is gonna come in.
That's gonna be a fun surprise tonight.
So, I'm really excited
and looking forward to it.
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
I haven't seen my fans for a long time.
I finally get to interact with them again.
I've been waiting for a long time
to be back on stage again,
and I want to see how the audience
will react to my performance.
Like, if I drop or miss a beat,
will they make a noise or let it slide?
It just gets me very excited.
And I'm absolutely thrilled that
I'm going to get to perform
to a really big crowd today.
[Roshni in English]
This is a city where commerce thrives.
Everybody is trying to sell something
in Mumbai.
Every hundred meters,
you'd probably find somebody
who is willing to sell you
sandwiches or kebabs.
It's the sort of place
where you can eat at any hour,
and it will most likely be delicious.
[in Hindi] Hello.
What are the ingredients in this dish?
Ginger, garlic, cumin seeds?
[vendor] Ghati spice mix.
Wow!
[Roshni in English] At night,
it becomes a lot more about indulgence,
and it becomes a lot more
about relaxing into a comforting meal
at the end of the day.
The food is richer, it's meatier,
there's a lot more carbs,
it's more likely to be fried,
it's more likely to have sugar.
And so, it's not even pretending
to be virtuous or healthy.
This is a city of migrants.
And with them,
the food culture of the city changed.
Each neighborhood
will kind of tell you about its history
through the street food.
Street food started out
trying to feed workers
but what it did
was also build entrepreneurs.
A lot of vendors that we see today
chose not to work for somebody else
and start something of their own.
They have honed their skills
and developed their recipes
without really being a chef
into something that is crave-worthy,
that's addictive,
that's satisfying, that's comforting.
-[in Hindi] Did you make it spicy?
-Yes.
Can I get some pav bhaji chutney
on the side, please?
-I'll bring it, yes.
-Thank you.
[in English] Pav bhaji is one of the foods
that came out from feeding mill workers.
It was a massive hit.
It was hot,
it contained lots of vegetables,
the sauciness came from tomatoes,
carbohydrates and the filling
came from potatoes.
It was served alongside
this crusty pav bread
that could soak up the flavors.
[intriguing music]
I travel especially for like 25 kilometers
from my home to this place.
It serves the best of the pav bhaji.
I have been coming here
since my childhood.
Now I'm coming with my child again.
The consistency of the food
and the quality have not deteriorated
since last so many years,
decades I can say.
-[in Hindi] Today is very hot.
-You're right. It is hot.
We have to stand in the heat
for 8 to 14 hours.
But this is how
it has always been for years.
I'm used to it.
[Roshni in English]
Sardar is the biggest
and the most popular pav bhaji seller
in Mumbai.
A bit of a landmark,
popular with many, many celebrities
across the city and the country.
He's known for his unique
pav bhaji flavors
and the inch of butter that floats on it.
[Nisar] My father started in 1966,
and he developed all the masalas
and vegetables.
He was the, I would say,
pioneer of, uh, pav bhaji in butter.
So almost 50 years have passed
with the same recipe.
[in Hindi] A lot of customers told me that
they have eaten at 5-star restaurants.
They've had pav bhaji
that costs 450 rupees
at the Taj Mahal Hotel,
but they've told me
it was not as tasty as mine.
I never dreamt my restaurant
would be crowded,
or families would wait in line
just to get a table or dine here.
I never expected that.
Mumbai is good because
there is beauty and business.
I guess I was ten years old
when I came to Mumbai.
I used to sell all sorts of fruits
from a handcart.
There were mills in Tardeo before,
and shops.
Many laborers worked there.
So at the end of their shift,
people would come out quite hungry,
and they'd be looking
for something to eat.
So I came up with an idea.
I thought I should start a food business.
I started to make pav bhaji
but my own way.
Are the ingredients ready?
-Roast seven to eight plates of pav.
-[cook] Yes.
[Nisar] Make them hot.
Add one more.
That will do.
I started out with using oil.
But then I thought I should sell something
of a higher quality.
So I replaced it with butter,
which is what they use in restaurants.
I knew that butter was expensive,
but I didn't think much about that.
If they asked for it, I give it.
The business began to grow.
Slowly at first.
It took time, but it worked.
[in English] Just getting it
in another two, three minutes.
-Okay?
-Fine.
-Enjoy your meal.
-Okay.
[Sardar in Hindi] People started coming
after hearing good things about my food.
They came from all over.
Lal Baug, Parel, Byculla, Bhandup,
and some other places.
They just kept coming.
When I bought this shop,
even families started to come.
And it all started with my handcart.
[customer 1 in English]
It's like a homely place for pav bhaji.
That's the special bond
which we share with Sardar.
[customer 2] The greatness about Sardar
is the butter, the main thing.
You can see my fingers over here.
[chuckles]
It's all buttery.
The masala is absolutely on point.
It's pretty damn delicious!
[Roshni] To succeed like Sardar
in the food business takes a lot.
Entrepreneurship and drive,
and the ability to adapt
to changing times.
He's a great example of all of that.
The neighborhood
around his restaurant changed.
Most of the mills have become malls.
These mills, which were
the centers of production,
have now become centers of consumption.
What hasn't changed is Sardar's popularity
even though his clientele
and his customer base
is kind of different now.
[Nisar] I will say at night,
the glow and the charm of Tardeo
is because of Sardar Pav Bhaji.
And people say Sardar
is the "Sardar of pav bhaji."
He's the king of pav bhaji.
[in Hindi] I was a cartman
who progressed to be a shopkeeper.
I was happy,
but I didn't stop working hard.
People say someone who hasn't eaten
at Sardar's Pav Bhaji
hasn't truly experienced Mumbai.
Now, what better praise can there be?
[intriguing music]
[Priyank in English]
I'm totally a night person.
For me, night means freedom.
The city actually seems like
it's coming alive.
And it just makes me realize
how lucky I am to be in this place.
My day job is, basically,
recruitment consulting.
It's a family business built by my father,
and he built it from ground up.
But the way his passion showed on his face
when he came to office every morning
was not something that he saw
on my face, I'm sure.
I was really stuck.
My heart was really not into it.
There is a famous line
in a very popular Bollywood movie
called Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,
"You live only once."
There's a conversation
between a father and a son
where the father who has not met his son
for a long time asks him,
"What do you do?"
He says that
he is an advertising copywriter.
The father replies,
"There is one thing that you do for others
and one thing that you do for yourself."
"So what is it that you do for yourself?"
And I realized that
what I am doing right now
is not really taking me
to the life that I want.
There is a completely different set
of things that I need to do.
[man] This is all so cool.
And that is where storytelling,
my love for history,
and traveling came out.
This is my first time,
and I'm pretty excited.
Yes.
Namaskaram, friends.
Welcome to the midnight cycling
and storytelling session
by The Legend of Bombay Bards.
We are going to be your Bards
for the evening.
-[cheering]
-Right? Good, good. Fantastic.
I'm Priyank Deshmukh.
I'm a storyteller,
and I run Mumbai's one and only
midnight cycling and storytelling tour,
the Legend of Bombay Bards.
Be careful because, uh, roads in Mumbai
are probably not good for cycling
as they are not good for walking or riding
or driving or anything like that, okay?
So be very careful, check your helmets,
wear your jackets.
[upbeat music]
During mornings,
most people don't look up, okay?
They're all either looking straight
or down, right?
People are oblivious
to those old buildings,
which all have a story to tell.
But at night, that is when they realize
there is this history to the place
that I am visiting.
And during the day,
I was not able to look at it.
The garden that you see right behind you,
today, we know it
as Horniman Circle Gardens, yeah?
Back then, it was called
as the Bombay Green.
Okay? This was kind of Mumbai's
first social networking site,
because all these traders who came here
came to this site to network
and do business and trade.
When I am out there,
you know, storytelling,
I'm actually the host of this entire party
that is happening.
[laughter]
So I have to make sure
that everyone around me is having fun
and enjoying the story that I'm narrating.
During the day, the streets are so busy
that you don't get to notice
the architectural beauty.
Sometimes you miss small things,
the story, the history,
what made our parents
or our peers' generation move here.
U-turn! Let's go.
As bicycle bards,
we try to tell untold stories
about people who have had an influence
on Mumbai's history.
One fine day, I came across this article
about Premchand Roychand,
the prince merchant of Mumbai.
Premchand Roychand,
at the peak of his prosperity,
owned many land broking companies,
land reclamation companies,
banking companies, and whatnot.
I was so intrigued
by how he built his empire,
and I was really surprised
that absolutely no one
was aware of Premchand Roychand,
and that is when I realized
that his story needs to be told.
When the American Civil War began,
England made a landmark decision
that they would import
all of India's cotton.
So Premchand devised
a very cunning strategy.
Now the story goes,
he sailed all the way
to the Sassoon Docks.
He started getting information
about what was the demand of cotton
on that particular ship that night
and convinced all the cotton traders here
to stock up and jack up
the prices of cotton to more than 200%.
And this is where he earned the title,
"The Alchemist of Bombay."
A man who can turn anything into gold.
Premchand became a messiah of sorts
for all those people
who came to Bombay to try their luck
at making money.
[indistinct chatter]
[woman]
When he's really telling the story,
it's like everything is coming alive.
It's like quite ironic.
There are so many people
who come to Mumbai
with this whole thought
that we want to make it big
and we want to make this happen, etcetera.
And it was like the same story
that happened some 150 years back.
It just gives me goosebumps,
you know, when I heard about it.
[Priyank] Mumbai is like this big platter
or thali,
where you have dishes which are sweet,
which are spicy, which are tangy,
and have all kinds of flavors.
And similarly, in my tour, we have people
from different communities,
different backgrounds,
different suburbs, different places,
different professions.
Over the years, 7,000 people
have attended my storytelling tours.
This venture has actually given people
an opportunity to look at Mumbai
not just as a place of business
or for earning money,
but as a place
where there is history and heritage
which, unfortunately, is getting lost
in the rapid redevelopment
of all of Mumbai
that is happening currently.
It is fun to see that people are actually
getting to know each other better,
getting to know this city better.
[tour members cheering]
[upbeat music]
[Pooja]
Bandra is the Queen of the Suburbs,
a real representation
of what Mumbai really is like.
I think it has a great mix
of modern Mumbai
and old traditional homes.
[upbeat music]
Whether it's your glitz and glamor
of Bollywood,
your tech entrepreneurs,
or even like the Koli community,
which is the fishermen community,
it's got so much life and so much culture
in these little by-lanes.
In the evenings,
when all the lights are on,
it is just incredibly beautiful.
I recently moved to Bandra.
And so now, my whole life
revolves around that neighborhood.
Hey, how's it going?
What can I get you, guys?
Should we get some cupcakes?
[woman] I'll have the Tart of My Dreams
and the Nutella brownie.
Tart of My Dreams is a great choice.
-The red velvet is my favorite.
-[woman] Yeah.
-[man] Then we'll get the red velvet.
-[Pooja] Yeah? Okay.
[Pooja] I definitely think that Mumbai
loves to end its day with dessert.
I remember my family.
We would sit in the car,
and go out and have gulab jamun
from Jhama or go for paan.
I think it's very lucky for me
that we love dessert as much as we do.
My name is Pooja Dhingra.
I'm a pastry chef.
I'm also known
as the Macaron Queen of India.
[upbeat music]
[woman] Maybe ten years ago,
there was no concept
of boutique dessert places as such,
and I feel like she was the first one.
And the macarons?
I've never eaten anywhere else
before I ate a Le15 macaron,
so that's like my first memory
of a macaron.
[Pooja] I was in Paris studying pastry.
It was the first weekend there.
I was at a party
with a lot of French friends,
and then suddenly somebody started talking
about something called a mogador.
And I was like,
"What is this? What is a mogador?"
They explained to me
it was a passion fruit-flavored macaron.
And I was like, "What is a macaron?"
And they were just like,
"This is blasphemy."
"How can you not know what a macaron is?"
And I feel like it's a very romantic
version of this story,
but one bite, and I truly felt like
something very unique
because it was sweet, and sour,
and it was crunchy, but it was soft.
That just started the whole
kind of macaron craziness for me.
[in Hindi]
So what does it taste like?
-[vendor] It has a fruity flavor.
-A fruity flavor?
[in English] I think, for me,
travel and living away from India
made me feel more connected
to the city and my roots.
-[Pooja in Hindi] Can I try this?
-[vendor] Yeah.
-Will I die?
-No, no.
It's spicy, okay.
How much does this cost?
[Pooja in English]
Bombay is the gateway to India.
It's a place
where there are so many cultures,
and so many flavors,
and everything melts together.
My most creative ideas
come to me after midnight
when I've just finished dinner.
And that's when I start
thinking of menu ideas.
I'm looking for cardamom.
Where's my elaichi?
Where's my elaichi?
I wanted to take things
that we were so used to having
on a day-to-day basis
and look at it from a different lens.
So I'm obsessed with chai.
I need to have my chai at 4:00 p.m.
every single day.
So the first thing I made was, you know,
a chai hazelnut macaron.
[whirring]
Sometimes, it's genius,
and you get something great.
And other times, it's like,
"I can't believe I have made this."
Okay, so what I'm looking for now,
is to see
when, if I turn the bowl,
there's no movement.
So at this stage, we're done.
-No!
-[laughter]
I thought that the green chili
would give a great punch,
so I mixed green chili
with white chocolate
to soften the blow a little bit
and made that into a macaron.
This is our green chili
and white chocolate ganache.
-Does anybody want to taste it?
-[woman] Wow, it's good.
Mm. It's yummy.
We have this sense of jugaad in this city,
which means this kind of hustle
that we make anything work.
And I think that acceptance
kind of pushes me
to be more experimental
and try new things as well.
[soft train whistle]
[club music]
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai is a perfect city for artists.
Struggling artists and performers
will find that Mumbai
has a lot of opportunities for them.
I never wanted fame or money.
I just wanted to make my hood proud,
to make Dharavi proud.
[Bhanuj in English] The audience
for hip-hop today is incredibly diverse.
So even if you're from Dharavi
or another person
is from South Mumbai or Bandra,
at the gig, there is no difference.
It breaks down this barrier
that certain spaces being only
for certain categories of people,
which is something that has existed
in Mumbai nightlife for a long time.
But hip-hop has really
kind of eroded that.
[crowd cheering]
[Karan] One surprise for you, up next.
[echoing]
Gully Gang!
Yo, yo. Check, check.
What's up? What's up, Neckwreck?
[in Hindi]
Is everyone here enjoying themselves?
What's up?
Everyone raise their hands with me.
Yeah.
♪ Sometimes I think of what to write
It seems like every day is the same ♪
♪ Friends call me to ask
"Bro, what's the scene today?" ♪
♪ There's a new scene here every day
Who gets to fulfill their dreams? ♪
♪ No sleep in my eyes
Passion keeps its need away ♪
♪ What I decide always gets done
Don't bow to anyone ♪
♪ I used my songs to win
Next, I rapped about the streets ♪
♪ Third song, the beat was sick
Fourth song, I sorted my scene ♪
♪ Then, on my plate was a full meal
But I still wasn't happy ♪
♪ I've been hungry ever since
And I couldn't chill ♪
♪ Our parties come with long bills ♪
♪ If you challenge me
I'll go for the kill… ♪
[MC Altaf] I like to perform
while making eye contact
with every single person watching me.
And that's what energizes me.
I feel that people are here for me,
and I am here for them.
[rapping]
♪ I live my dreams! ♪
-[crowd cheering]
-[Karan] MC Altaf, supermove!
[MC Altaf] Do you want to hear the bars?
Do you want to hear my bars and headbang?
[Karan] Put your hands up, everyone.
Let's go.
-Put your hands up, everyone!
-Put your hands up!
[rapping] ♪ Used to sit and write at home
Now I am noticed ♪
♪ Silence is an answer too
I learn from it ♪
♪ Chances don't just come along
I grab them ♪
♪ Don't know about others
But I go straight through them ♪
♪ I set out to find a new world
And found new rules ♪
♪ Why do you sit dejected?
Get back up ♪
♪ How right are you?
Ask yourself, not them ♪
♪ Those who want to see you fall
Fly over them ♪
[MC Altaf] I'm proud of my roots.
I'm happy about where I came from.
And if my hood is proud of me,
it's a win for me.
People there support each other
and know each other's pain.
They ask each other how they're doing.
It teaches us how to stand united
and how to carry ourselves.
I learned this from my hood, Dharavi.
[crowd cheering]
My name is MC Altaf,
and I'm from Dharavi, Mumbai, 17.
[in English]
MC Altaf!
[cheering]
Gully Gang, let's get it!
Mumbai at night is electric.
[in Hindi]
How many masala pavs? One plate?
[Pooja in English] I genuinely feel that
Mumbaikar has the resilience
to really make their dreams come true.
If we have an idea and a mission,
we will go after it
and make sure that it comes true.
-It's damn good, yeah.
-[Ami] Oh, yeah?
-Awesome!
-Awesome!
-Cheers!
-Cheers!
[Ami] Mumbai is a crazy city.
For somebody who wants to try
anything unconventional
and pursue different paths,
it's a great city to be in.
[Ami] At night, there's a buzz.
It motivates you to do better
and to push ourselves.
That's the charm of Mumbai.
[closing theme music]
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
The nights are most special.
[rapping in Hindi]
♪ Used to sit and write at home ♪
♪ Now I am noticed ♪
♪ Silence is an answer too
I learn from it ♪
♪ Chances don't just come along
I grab them ♪
♪ Don't know about others
But I go straight through them ♪
♪ I set out to find a new world
And found new rules ♪
♪ Why do you sit dejected?
Get back up ♪
♪ How right are you?
Ask yourself, not them ♪
♪ Those who want to see you fall
Fly over them ♪
Maybe it's magic or something,
but at night when I sit down to write,
I come up with songs and ideas.
Mom stays up and gets annoyed
when I get home.
She'd say, "The Night King's home."
[chuckles]
[upbeat music]
[Bhanuj in English]
Mumbai is called the City of Dreams,
but I think of it more as a city
of sort of hustle and imagination.
It's always been a place
of exchange of ideas
and new technologies, new customs.
The face of India
to the rest of the world.
At night, the city sort of
invites introspection.
Everyone has a vision of themselves
that's not defined by what they are doing.
It's defined by what they could do
and what they want to do.
[Roshni] Mumbai had hustle
before "hustle" was a word.
It's a city that doesn't allow you
to stay still.
Mumbai is a city of migrants.
So, the diversity of India gets reflected
in the diversity of Mumbai.
And that's exactly what gives it
its vibrancy at night.
[Pooja] There's always chaos.
There's always noise.
There's always something happening.
Once I remember I was stuck in traffic
at 3 a.m. on Marine Drive,
and I was just wondering what is going on.
How is this normal?
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Night has a motivation
and alluring power that compels people
to go out and express themselves.
It takes a hold over you completely.
It's the energy of our city.
[theme music]
[horns honking]
[Bhanuj in English]
So, the energy of the city at night
is in one word, "manic."
Mumbai has approximately 20 million people
which makes it one of the densest
and one of the biggest cities in India.
It gets called the Maximum City because
kind of everything here
is turned up to 11.
The price of that
is that you are constantly hustling,
you are constantly struggling.
So, if you want to make it in Mumbai,
if you want to survive,
you have to improvise,
you have to innovate,
you have to find your space, build on it.
That energy is addictive.
That energy is what keeps
a lot of us going,
because it is one of the few places
where you can build your communities,
where you can find people
who allow you to be who you are.
[Ami] I love Mumbai by the night.
It's always bustling. Visuals, sounds.
Everything is going so fast,
it makes you move also.
In fact, it is too much stimulation.
There's a "crazy" attached to it.
But it's not just about it
being buzzing and fast,
it's also the number of opportunities
that it kind of opens up.
Two iced teas coming up for you.
[Ami] My dad was quite Parsi
and my mom is quite Marathi.
I was a cocktail right from the start.
[Roshni] Ami Shroff is one of the city's
most celebrated flair bartenders.
I've actually attended
a bartending workshop
where she was teaching us stuff.
She got us to practice,
and we were all like complete klutzes.
Like, making total fools of ourselves.
[Ami in English] One of my favorite moves
I do often is called "around the world."
You can, like, sort of go
into a pour directly,
or you can keep it going,
and then break into another move.
It looks cool, yeah!
So I'm going to make you
a Smoky Old-Fashioned.
[Roshni] She's not only setting
a benchmark on how it should be done,
but she is also opening doors
to a younger generation
that might have aspirations
and might have had reservations
because nobody had done it before them.
As a child, I loved being
in the center of attention.
And yeah, I always, I wanted a platform,
I wanted to be on stage.
It fascinated me when I first saw flair.
It's kind of like a dance.
Just the way you might do your pour,
pick up your peg measure,
uh, the way you might stir your cocktail,
the way you shake it.
You're playing with these objects,
you're creating these visuals.
It's beautiful, it's what pulled me
into bartending I think.
-[Ami] Thank you.
-[cheering]
The bar is open!
I'm joking!
-[chuckling]
-[customers cheering]
[relaxing music]
[Ami] I didn't realize as a child
the freedom that I actually received.
Girls, the way they're brought up,
they're told to be more careful
and not play too much or get hurt.
I didn't have that,
I didn't have these rules
that I'm supposed to be a certain way.
I was quite rebellious.
I was always inclined towards finding
places you're not supposed to go.
I wanted to go there,
and my mom would be like,
"Let her do what she wants" kind of thing.
I was allowed to just be
whoever I wanted to be.
Patio for you? I'll serve?
You didn't taste this, right?
Nice food!
Yeah, it's nice?
-We hardly sit down.
-Yeah.
[Ami] My parents both were feminists
in their own way.
My mom, maybe a few years she took off
when she had me and my sister.
And after that, she got back into work.
I think just that kind of a vibe
in the house,
where you see your parents as equals
right from the start,
makes you have
different perceptions as you grow up,
and to a certain extent also helped me
to frame my personality in a certain way.
[upbeat electronic music]
[Ami] So I've always felt like
I belong to Bombay.
Like, I was born here,
I was brought up here,
and it's a great city to be in.
As a woman, Bombay, I think,
relatively feels safer
than many other cities to be out at night.
At night also, you will see some women
more free to be how they want,
to dress how they want.
All these factors add
to the vibe of a place.
It feels like the whole city is yours.
You can just explore it.
-This is jaggery?
-[Ami] Yeah.
Ginger, lime, and, uh, jaggery,
and a touch of gin.
Make one more for me.
Done, done, done.
Very nice.
I feel really proud of her.
There are so many girls
who are also joining this profession
and she's the pioneer.
[laughs]
[Ami] I go to bars also
and I see a woman behind the bar,
someone who's experienced,
who's been doing it for a while,
it's beautiful to see that.
It's an amazing feeling to know
that you've been an inspiration
in any form of a manner to anyone.
Just trying new things,
or trying what they want to do,
or seeing the possibilities
of other professions out there
and other things possible.
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai is a city of hustlers.
I've been hustling from day one,
and I'm still doing it.
Mumbai streets have always been my teacher
because I've learned
from the slums of Mumbai,
more lessons than from inside
the classroom of a school.
When I was in school,
the teachers made us stand up
and tell everyone our names
and where we live.
I stood up and said, "I live in Dharavi."
So all the other kids laughed at me.
They said, "You live in Dharavi?"
"That's where thieves live."
At that time, I felt bad and embarrassed
about where I lived.
Hey. What's up, Sunil?
[in English]
Come on!
Whoo!
[in Hindi] But when I got to explore it,
I found it to be very beautiful.
[MC Altaf in English]
Sup! Sup!
[in Hindi] Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
stay together and chill together here.
There has been so much development lately
so people now see Dharavi
in a different light.
Everyone says Dharavi is heart-shaped.
So I think of Dharavi
as the heart of Mumbai.
-[man 1] Yeah, I know, man.
-[man 2] Yeah, man. Of course.
-[man 3] Yeah, totally…
-Boys in the hood?
-What's up, homie?
-Oh, hey!
[man 4] Let's do a cypher.
Let's have some fun.
[man 5] Good to see you again, dude.
Come on.
[rapping] ♪ You better scuttle
I won't go easy on you ♪
[all] ♪ Never! ♪
♪ The words take you high
Feel it, when I get down to it… ♪
[all] ♪ I spit lyrics! ♪
[MC Altaf]
Mumbai is a city that never sleeps.
Night is a space
where there are no interferences.
It's just us.
Let's go, sledge!
I meet dreamers and all types of people.
[Bhanuj in English] Hip-hop has been
growing in India for over a decade,
especially exploding
on the last couple of years.
It's telling the stories
of a certain section of the population
that has largely been underrepresented
in pop culture.
-♪ Both are a danger! An Olympic… ♪
-[all] ♪ Combo! ♪
-♪ The nature of people messes… ♪
-[all] ♪ With my mind! ♪
[Bhanuj in English]
A lot of the rappers in Mumbai
come from these working-class enclaves
like Dharavi.
Altaf is one of the second generation
of Mumbai rappers
who are really building on the sound,
evolving it into something
even more unique and more exciting.
-Yeah. Come on, man. Drop it.
-Awesome!
[rapping in Punjabi]
♪ I gaze upon green pastures! ♪
-♪ They spread to the horizons! ♪
-[all] ♪ The horizons! ♪
♪ I rap in Bombay, in a Punjabi code! ♪
-♪ Feel the melody! ♪
-[all] ♪ Melody! ♪
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai rap is different
because it has many different languages.
Marathi, Tamil, Hindi.
It's a powerful mix.
[rapping] ♪ You'll ask for less
We'll soak up a plastic ball ♪
-♪ We'll then play… ♪
-[rappers] ♪ Dodge ball! ♪
♪ Brings back memories
Of school holidays… ♪
[MC Altaf]
There is a story. There is pain.
[rapping continues]
People don't want to just listen
to songs about cars
because not everybody owns a car at home.
Not everyone goes to parties every day.
This is why Gully rap is so relatable.
Because those who hear it think,
"Yes, he's telling the story of my life
in a song."
[intriguing music]
When I'm rapping or making music,
I never think that
I'm only from the streets.
If I limited myself with that mentality,
I wouldn't be able to compete
with other rappers.
I always think of myself
in terms of hip-hop.
What I mean is, I can take on anyone.
I believe I'm as good as any of them.
After joining Gully Gang,
I started performing in different shows.
And now, even in different cities.
Gully Gang is a crew
that every boy from the street
dreams of joining,
a role model for upcoming artists
from the streets
who want to do something big someday.
[upbeat music]
[MC Altaf] I can't hear anything.
Can you hear my rap on the mic from there?
Karan, check my vocals.
Check my vocals, Karan.
-Is the mic off? It's off.
-[man] Is this better?
[MC Altaf in English] Check, check, check.
[rapping]
♪ Hard work has been my cheat code ♪
♪ Beast mode
I don't stop, I reload ♪
♪ I control the flow
Like I've got a remote ♪
[Karan] We have a sold-out event tonight,
and nobody knows
that Altaf is gonna come in.
That's gonna be a fun surprise tonight.
So, I'm really excited
and looking forward to it.
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
I haven't seen my fans for a long time.
I finally get to interact with them again.
I've been waiting for a long time
to be back on stage again,
and I want to see how the audience
will react to my performance.
Like, if I drop or miss a beat,
will they make a noise or let it slide?
It just gets me very excited.
And I'm absolutely thrilled that
I'm going to get to perform
to a really big crowd today.
[Roshni in English]
This is a city where commerce thrives.
Everybody is trying to sell something
in Mumbai.
Every hundred meters,
you'd probably find somebody
who is willing to sell you
sandwiches or kebabs.
It's the sort of place
where you can eat at any hour,
and it will most likely be delicious.
[in Hindi] Hello.
What are the ingredients in this dish?
Ginger, garlic, cumin seeds?
[vendor] Ghati spice mix.
Wow!
[Roshni in English] At night,
it becomes a lot more about indulgence,
and it becomes a lot more
about relaxing into a comforting meal
at the end of the day.
The food is richer, it's meatier,
there's a lot more carbs,
it's more likely to be fried,
it's more likely to have sugar.
And so, it's not even pretending
to be virtuous or healthy.
This is a city of migrants.
And with them,
the food culture of the city changed.
Each neighborhood
will kind of tell you about its history
through the street food.
Street food started out
trying to feed workers
but what it did
was also build entrepreneurs.
A lot of vendors that we see today
chose not to work for somebody else
and start something of their own.
They have honed their skills
and developed their recipes
without really being a chef
into something that is crave-worthy,
that's addictive,
that's satisfying, that's comforting.
-[in Hindi] Did you make it spicy?
-Yes.
Can I get some pav bhaji chutney
on the side, please?
-I'll bring it, yes.
-Thank you.
[in English] Pav bhaji is one of the foods
that came out from feeding mill workers.
It was a massive hit.
It was hot,
it contained lots of vegetables,
the sauciness came from tomatoes,
carbohydrates and the filling
came from potatoes.
It was served alongside
this crusty pav bread
that could soak up the flavors.
[intriguing music]
I travel especially for like 25 kilometers
from my home to this place.
It serves the best of the pav bhaji.
I have been coming here
since my childhood.
Now I'm coming with my child again.
The consistency of the food
and the quality have not deteriorated
since last so many years,
decades I can say.
-[in Hindi] Today is very hot.
-You're right. It is hot.
We have to stand in the heat
for 8 to 14 hours.
But this is how
it has always been for years.
I'm used to it.
[Roshni in English]
Sardar is the biggest
and the most popular pav bhaji seller
in Mumbai.
A bit of a landmark,
popular with many, many celebrities
across the city and the country.
He's known for his unique
pav bhaji flavors
and the inch of butter that floats on it.
[Nisar] My father started in 1966,
and he developed all the masalas
and vegetables.
He was the, I would say,
pioneer of, uh, pav bhaji in butter.
So almost 50 years have passed
with the same recipe.
[in Hindi] A lot of customers told me that
they have eaten at 5-star restaurants.
They've had pav bhaji
that costs 450 rupees
at the Taj Mahal Hotel,
but they've told me
it was not as tasty as mine.
I never dreamt my restaurant
would be crowded,
or families would wait in line
just to get a table or dine here.
I never expected that.
Mumbai is good because
there is beauty and business.
I guess I was ten years old
when I came to Mumbai.
I used to sell all sorts of fruits
from a handcart.
There were mills in Tardeo before,
and shops.
Many laborers worked there.
So at the end of their shift,
people would come out quite hungry,
and they'd be looking
for something to eat.
So I came up with an idea.
I thought I should start a food business.
I started to make pav bhaji
but my own way.
Are the ingredients ready?
-Roast seven to eight plates of pav.
-[cook] Yes.
[Nisar] Make them hot.
Add one more.
That will do.
I started out with using oil.
But then I thought I should sell something
of a higher quality.
So I replaced it with butter,
which is what they use in restaurants.
I knew that butter was expensive,
but I didn't think much about that.
If they asked for it, I give it.
The business began to grow.
Slowly at first.
It took time, but it worked.
[in English] Just getting it
in another two, three minutes.
-Okay?
-Fine.
-Enjoy your meal.
-Okay.
[Sardar in Hindi] People started coming
after hearing good things about my food.
They came from all over.
Lal Baug, Parel, Byculla, Bhandup,
and some other places.
They just kept coming.
When I bought this shop,
even families started to come.
And it all started with my handcart.
[customer 1 in English]
It's like a homely place for pav bhaji.
That's the special bond
which we share with Sardar.
[customer 2] The greatness about Sardar
is the butter, the main thing.
You can see my fingers over here.
[chuckles]
It's all buttery.
The masala is absolutely on point.
It's pretty damn delicious!
[Roshni] To succeed like Sardar
in the food business takes a lot.
Entrepreneurship and drive,
and the ability to adapt
to changing times.
He's a great example of all of that.
The neighborhood
around his restaurant changed.
Most of the mills have become malls.
These mills, which were
the centers of production,
have now become centers of consumption.
What hasn't changed is Sardar's popularity
even though his clientele
and his customer base
is kind of different now.
[Nisar] I will say at night,
the glow and the charm of Tardeo
is because of Sardar Pav Bhaji.
And people say Sardar
is the "Sardar of pav bhaji."
He's the king of pav bhaji.
[in Hindi] I was a cartman
who progressed to be a shopkeeper.
I was happy,
but I didn't stop working hard.
People say someone who hasn't eaten
at Sardar's Pav Bhaji
hasn't truly experienced Mumbai.
Now, what better praise can there be?
[intriguing music]
[Priyank in English]
I'm totally a night person.
For me, night means freedom.
The city actually seems like
it's coming alive.
And it just makes me realize
how lucky I am to be in this place.
My day job is, basically,
recruitment consulting.
It's a family business built by my father,
and he built it from ground up.
But the way his passion showed on his face
when he came to office every morning
was not something that he saw
on my face, I'm sure.
I was really stuck.
My heart was really not into it.
There is a famous line
in a very popular Bollywood movie
called Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,
"You live only once."
There's a conversation
between a father and a son
where the father who has not met his son
for a long time asks him,
"What do you do?"
He says that
he is an advertising copywriter.
The father replies,
"There is one thing that you do for others
and one thing that you do for yourself."
"So what is it that you do for yourself?"
And I realized that
what I am doing right now
is not really taking me
to the life that I want.
There is a completely different set
of things that I need to do.
[man] This is all so cool.
And that is where storytelling,
my love for history,
and traveling came out.
This is my first time,
and I'm pretty excited.
Yes.
Namaskaram, friends.
Welcome to the midnight cycling
and storytelling session
by The Legend of Bombay Bards.
We are going to be your Bards
for the evening.
-[cheering]
-Right? Good, good. Fantastic.
I'm Priyank Deshmukh.
I'm a storyteller,
and I run Mumbai's one and only
midnight cycling and storytelling tour,
the Legend of Bombay Bards.
Be careful because, uh, roads in Mumbai
are probably not good for cycling
as they are not good for walking or riding
or driving or anything like that, okay?
So be very careful, check your helmets,
wear your jackets.
[upbeat music]
During mornings,
most people don't look up, okay?
They're all either looking straight
or down, right?
People are oblivious
to those old buildings,
which all have a story to tell.
But at night, that is when they realize
there is this history to the place
that I am visiting.
And during the day,
I was not able to look at it.
The garden that you see right behind you,
today, we know it
as Horniman Circle Gardens, yeah?
Back then, it was called
as the Bombay Green.
Okay? This was kind of Mumbai's
first social networking site,
because all these traders who came here
came to this site to network
and do business and trade.
When I am out there,
you know, storytelling,
I'm actually the host of this entire party
that is happening.
[laughter]
So I have to make sure
that everyone around me is having fun
and enjoying the story that I'm narrating.
During the day, the streets are so busy
that you don't get to notice
the architectural beauty.
Sometimes you miss small things,
the story, the history,
what made our parents
or our peers' generation move here.
U-turn! Let's go.
As bicycle bards,
we try to tell untold stories
about people who have had an influence
on Mumbai's history.
One fine day, I came across this article
about Premchand Roychand,
the prince merchant of Mumbai.
Premchand Roychand,
at the peak of his prosperity,
owned many land broking companies,
land reclamation companies,
banking companies, and whatnot.
I was so intrigued
by how he built his empire,
and I was really surprised
that absolutely no one
was aware of Premchand Roychand,
and that is when I realized
that his story needs to be told.
When the American Civil War began,
England made a landmark decision
that they would import
all of India's cotton.
So Premchand devised
a very cunning strategy.
Now the story goes,
he sailed all the way
to the Sassoon Docks.
He started getting information
about what was the demand of cotton
on that particular ship that night
and convinced all the cotton traders here
to stock up and jack up
the prices of cotton to more than 200%.
And this is where he earned the title,
"The Alchemist of Bombay."
A man who can turn anything into gold.
Premchand became a messiah of sorts
for all those people
who came to Bombay to try their luck
at making money.
[indistinct chatter]
[woman]
When he's really telling the story,
it's like everything is coming alive.
It's like quite ironic.
There are so many people
who come to Mumbai
with this whole thought
that we want to make it big
and we want to make this happen, etcetera.
And it was like the same story
that happened some 150 years back.
It just gives me goosebumps,
you know, when I heard about it.
[Priyank] Mumbai is like this big platter
or thali,
where you have dishes which are sweet,
which are spicy, which are tangy,
and have all kinds of flavors.
And similarly, in my tour, we have people
from different communities,
different backgrounds,
different suburbs, different places,
different professions.
Over the years, 7,000 people
have attended my storytelling tours.
This venture has actually given people
an opportunity to look at Mumbai
not just as a place of business
or for earning money,
but as a place
where there is history and heritage
which, unfortunately, is getting lost
in the rapid redevelopment
of all of Mumbai
that is happening currently.
It is fun to see that people are actually
getting to know each other better,
getting to know this city better.
[tour members cheering]
[upbeat music]
[Pooja]
Bandra is the Queen of the Suburbs,
a real representation
of what Mumbai really is like.
I think it has a great mix
of modern Mumbai
and old traditional homes.
[upbeat music]
Whether it's your glitz and glamor
of Bollywood,
your tech entrepreneurs,
or even like the Koli community,
which is the fishermen community,
it's got so much life and so much culture
in these little by-lanes.
In the evenings,
when all the lights are on,
it is just incredibly beautiful.
I recently moved to Bandra.
And so now, my whole life
revolves around that neighborhood.
Hey, how's it going?
What can I get you, guys?
Should we get some cupcakes?
[woman] I'll have the Tart of My Dreams
and the Nutella brownie.
Tart of My Dreams is a great choice.
-The red velvet is my favorite.
-[woman] Yeah.
-[man] Then we'll get the red velvet.
-[Pooja] Yeah? Okay.
[Pooja] I definitely think that Mumbai
loves to end its day with dessert.
I remember my family.
We would sit in the car,
and go out and have gulab jamun
from Jhama or go for paan.
I think it's very lucky for me
that we love dessert as much as we do.
My name is Pooja Dhingra.
I'm a pastry chef.
I'm also known
as the Macaron Queen of India.
[upbeat music]
[woman] Maybe ten years ago,
there was no concept
of boutique dessert places as such,
and I feel like she was the first one.
And the macarons?
I've never eaten anywhere else
before I ate a Le15 macaron,
so that's like my first memory
of a macaron.
[Pooja] I was in Paris studying pastry.
It was the first weekend there.
I was at a party
with a lot of French friends,
and then suddenly somebody started talking
about something called a mogador.
And I was like,
"What is this? What is a mogador?"
They explained to me
it was a passion fruit-flavored macaron.
And I was like, "What is a macaron?"
And they were just like,
"This is blasphemy."
"How can you not know what a macaron is?"
And I feel like it's a very romantic
version of this story,
but one bite, and I truly felt like
something very unique
because it was sweet, and sour,
and it was crunchy, but it was soft.
That just started the whole
kind of macaron craziness for me.
[in Hindi]
So what does it taste like?
-[vendor] It has a fruity flavor.
-A fruity flavor?
[in English] I think, for me,
travel and living away from India
made me feel more connected
to the city and my roots.
-[Pooja in Hindi] Can I try this?
-[vendor] Yeah.
-Will I die?
-No, no.
It's spicy, okay.
How much does this cost?
[Pooja in English]
Bombay is the gateway to India.
It's a place
where there are so many cultures,
and so many flavors,
and everything melts together.
My most creative ideas
come to me after midnight
when I've just finished dinner.
And that's when I start
thinking of menu ideas.
I'm looking for cardamom.
Where's my elaichi?
Where's my elaichi?
I wanted to take things
that we were so used to having
on a day-to-day basis
and look at it from a different lens.
So I'm obsessed with chai.
I need to have my chai at 4:00 p.m.
every single day.
So the first thing I made was, you know,
a chai hazelnut macaron.
[whirring]
Sometimes, it's genius,
and you get something great.
And other times, it's like,
"I can't believe I have made this."
Okay, so what I'm looking for now,
is to see
when, if I turn the bowl,
there's no movement.
So at this stage, we're done.
-No!
-[laughter]
I thought that the green chili
would give a great punch,
so I mixed green chili
with white chocolate
to soften the blow a little bit
and made that into a macaron.
This is our green chili
and white chocolate ganache.
-Does anybody want to taste it?
-[woman] Wow, it's good.
Mm. It's yummy.
We have this sense of jugaad in this city,
which means this kind of hustle
that we make anything work.
And I think that acceptance
kind of pushes me
to be more experimental
and try new things as well.
[soft train whistle]
[club music]
[MC Altaf in Hindi]
Mumbai is a perfect city for artists.
Struggling artists and performers
will find that Mumbai
has a lot of opportunities for them.
I never wanted fame or money.
I just wanted to make my hood proud,
to make Dharavi proud.
[Bhanuj in English] The audience
for hip-hop today is incredibly diverse.
So even if you're from Dharavi
or another person
is from South Mumbai or Bandra,
at the gig, there is no difference.
It breaks down this barrier
that certain spaces being only
for certain categories of people,
which is something that has existed
in Mumbai nightlife for a long time.
But hip-hop has really
kind of eroded that.
[crowd cheering]
[Karan] One surprise for you, up next.
[echoing]
Gully Gang!
Yo, yo. Check, check.
What's up? What's up, Neckwreck?
[in Hindi]
Is everyone here enjoying themselves?
What's up?
Everyone raise their hands with me.
Yeah.
♪ Sometimes I think of what to write
It seems like every day is the same ♪
♪ Friends call me to ask
"Bro, what's the scene today?" ♪
♪ There's a new scene here every day
Who gets to fulfill their dreams? ♪
♪ No sleep in my eyes
Passion keeps its need away ♪
♪ What I decide always gets done
Don't bow to anyone ♪
♪ I used my songs to win
Next, I rapped about the streets ♪
♪ Third song, the beat was sick
Fourth song, I sorted my scene ♪
♪ Then, on my plate was a full meal
But I still wasn't happy ♪
♪ I've been hungry ever since
And I couldn't chill ♪
♪ Our parties come with long bills ♪
♪ If you challenge me
I'll go for the kill… ♪
[MC Altaf] I like to perform
while making eye contact
with every single person watching me.
And that's what energizes me.
I feel that people are here for me,
and I am here for them.
[rapping]
♪ I live my dreams! ♪
-[crowd cheering]
-[Karan] MC Altaf, supermove!
[MC Altaf] Do you want to hear the bars?
Do you want to hear my bars and headbang?
[Karan] Put your hands up, everyone.
Let's go.
-Put your hands up, everyone!
-Put your hands up!
[rapping] ♪ Used to sit and write at home
Now I am noticed ♪
♪ Silence is an answer too
I learn from it ♪
♪ Chances don't just come along
I grab them ♪
♪ Don't know about others
But I go straight through them ♪
♪ I set out to find a new world
And found new rules ♪
♪ Why do you sit dejected?
Get back up ♪
♪ How right are you?
Ask yourself, not them ♪
♪ Those who want to see you fall
Fly over them ♪
[MC Altaf] I'm proud of my roots.
I'm happy about where I came from.
And if my hood is proud of me,
it's a win for me.
People there support each other
and know each other's pain.
They ask each other how they're doing.
It teaches us how to stand united
and how to carry ourselves.
I learned this from my hood, Dharavi.
[crowd cheering]
My name is MC Altaf,
and I'm from Dharavi, Mumbai, 17.
[in English]
MC Altaf!
[cheering]
Gully Gang, let's get it!
Mumbai at night is electric.
[in Hindi]
How many masala pavs? One plate?
[Pooja in English] I genuinely feel that
Mumbaikar has the resilience
to really make their dreams come true.
If we have an idea and a mission,
we will go after it
and make sure that it comes true.
-It's damn good, yeah.
-[Ami] Oh, yeah?
-Awesome!
-Awesome!
-Cheers!
-Cheers!
[Ami] Mumbai is a crazy city.
For somebody who wants to try
anything unconventional
and pursue different paths,
it's a great city to be in.
[Ami] At night, there's a buzz.
It motivates you to do better
and to push ourselves.
That's the charm of Mumbai.
[closing theme music]