City of Gold (2010)

Underneath the dazzling skyline of Mumbai, hidden beneath the sprawling shopping malls, vibrant nightclubs and upscale lounges, rests an unseen city steeped in despair and forgotten sacrifices. This is the City of Gold, a tale of the invisible multitudes, the mill workers who once were the throbbing heart of Mumbai. They were the spirit and backbone of the city, laboring tirelessly in cotton mills seven days a week, propelling Mumbai towards its destiny as the business hub of India. But then, following a landmark strike in the mid-80s, the mills began to shutter, and these workers vanished as if they were never there. Their fate and whereabouts mark a grim secret of a city that thrives on dreams. The story unfolds through the eyes of Anna Dhuri, a resident of modern-day Parel, Mumbai, at odds with his girlfriend Mansi's desire for a flat in the upmarket Shivaji Park. Anna's connection to Parel serves as a gateway to the tumultuous past of his family, engulfed in the whirlwind of the 1980s. His father, Giri, having been prematurely forced into retirement, waits for a pension that never comes, a testament to the plight of the mill workers. His mother Lakshmi, in a desperate bid for survival, prepares meals for office-goers while his siblings juggle meager employment and inner city turmoil. As the narrative progresses, the Dhuri family faces one calamity after another. Anna's sister, Manju, finds herself pregnant by the grocer's boy only to discover he is already married. The family's dignity teeters on the brink of collapse when Anna's brother Mohan is arrested for embezzlement, only to be mysteriously bailed out by Anna. The family's spiral into despair reaches its nadir when the mill owners burn the premises, and the youngest Dhuri, Naru, is embroiled in a homicide case. City of Gold is not just about the Dhuri family's struggle against the odds, but it's also a scathing critique of the unholy alliance between big business, politics, and trade union leaders. It sheds an unflinching light on the birth of organized crime in Mumbai, the politics of greed, and the systematic eradication of the city's mills. It's a poignant reminder that the glittering landscape of Mumbai has been built on the ruins of livelihoods and dreams. As the Dhuri family fights to survive, the city around them flourishes, leaving behind a harsh truth that is not just stranger, but darker and dirtier than any fiction.

City of Gold is a crime movie featuring Sachin Khedekar and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar.

It is possible to buy City of Gold on Amazon Video.