Streets of Gold: Mumbai

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Factual: Real Life Stories

What it’s really like in the boom town of Mumbai, the playground of billionaires.

Meet the glamorous super-rich of Mumbai, India's most fashionable city. Incredible wealth and extreme poverty live side by side in a sun-drenched city bursting with opportunity.

Series 1

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Sunetra Sarker

Philip McCreery

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Forest

Streets of Gold: Mumbai: Series 1: Episode 2

Episode 2

BBC Two - Streets of Gold: Mumbai, Series 1, Episode 2

From the slums to the Taj Mahal Hotel, the hustle is on in the city that never sleeps.

The hustle is on across the city from the beach parties on the seafront to Asia’s biggest slum to the Taj Mahal Hotel as wedding fever takes hold in the city that never sleeps.

Everyone is out to make a fast buck as wedding fever takes hold in the city that never sleeps. From Asia’s biggest slum to beach parties on the seafront to the grandest of events at the illustrious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the hustle is on.

It’s breakfast time in the house of one of India’s most famous entrepreneurs, Anupam Mittal, an investor on Shark Tank, India’s equivalent of Dragon’s Den. Each episode is watched by around 75 million people, and its success represents a new can-do, market-minded India. 

Anupam made his fortune in the 90s dotcom boom and became a self-styled king of bling. His success embodies the dreams of millions of young Indians. One of his fans is 30-year-old Nikhil Tikam, whose textile business makes products that are shipped all over the world. Nikhil’s business is part of a thriving economy in the Dharavi district in central Mumbai, Asia’s biggest slum, worth an estimated billion dollars a year and home to tens of thousands of entrepreneurs.

Nikhil’s home is 25 minutes away in Worli Village. He is about to get married to girlfriend Prarthana, who works in her family catering business. Nikhil’s will be one of around ten million weddings taking place in India this year, and the weddings industry is the fourth biggest in the country.

Five miles away at the world famous Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in south Mumbai, Paloma Shah is in charge of planning the latest wedding at the venue, complete with an elaborate mandap, or wedding altar, which is bending under the weight of the flowers. The bar for luxury weddings was set in 2018 by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who spent a rumoured $100m dollars on his daughter’s. Beyoncé was their wedding singer. But even more modest weddings push the boat out, and by some estimates, a typical Indian family spends around 20 per cent of their lifetime income on a wedding.

Siddhesh, the groom, decides he doesn't like the colour scheme, so it’s out with the white and in with the cream, and with just two hours to go until the service begins, the race is on to make sure everything's just so.

Anupam may have shot to fame thanks to his TV work, but his reputation as an entrepreneur is based on the success of his company, Shaadi.com, India’s leading marriage site, set up in the 90s dotcom boom. Shaadi means ‘wedding’ in Hindi. In a country where around 90 per cent of marriages are still arranged, Shaadi replicates the work of traditional matchmakers. Since 1996, a reported seven million people have found partners through the site. 

Today, Anupam is promoting the latest series of Shark Tank on the popular Kapil Sharma Show. Normally it promotes singers, actors and comedians. The presence of the Sharks is a sign that in India, business is the new rock ’n’ roll.

Former air steward and aspiring actress Aradhana from Delhi is one of thousands who come to Mumbai every month hoping to make it in the entertainment capital of India. The city attracts around a thousand new residents every day, drawn by the prospect of better jobs and a higher standard of living –  part of a massive shift in India from country to city. Aradhana has saved up enough money to live solo in the city for six months, and we join her as she auditions for a new TV series. 

There are 22 officially recognised languages in India. Although Hindi is the most widely spoken, English remains the language of business, education, the legal system and much of central government. Former actress Sabira Merchant is the city’s premier etiquette and elocution coach, with dozens of clients on her books, and today she’s coaching Smirah, an aspiring model who’s set her sights on becoming Miss India. 

As part of his wedding preparations, Nikhil is preparing his ceremony of haldi – Hindi for turmeric - to be celebrated by all the villagers of Worli. A turmeric paste is smeared on the groom by the women in his family. The ceremony signifies purity, prosperity and fertility. Nikhil and Prarthana's wedding is a £30,000 extravaganza financed solely by the groom. With the main rituals completed, it’s time for the Marathi tradition in which the bride’s family can demand a ransom to release her. 'We want cash!', shout the bridesmaids. The business of love is booming in Mumbai.

As Derby Day dawns, we learn that Anupam has skin in the game, and his horse Democracy is one of the favourites for a race in this year’s Indian Derby weekend. However, it’s not a good day for Democracy - she comes second to last. But Aradhana lands a job co-hosting online TV coverage of the Derby.

And for Nikhil and Prarthana, it’s time for the bride to leave one family and to join her new one in Worli Village.

Streets of Gold: Mumbai: Series 1

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