The Subaltern Backbone of Mumbai: ‘Working Class Hero’ A Photo Essay by Vikram Zutshi

My work captures moments between words, thoughts and emotions. It attempts to freeze humanity at the cusp of epiphany, a pregnant pause, in the swirl of life. My personal challenge is to find situations of momentary respite which speak to the core of our Being; that in the eye of the storm, there exists a sentient being, without whom the drama of life would be “an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” These are the nameless and faceless inhabitants, the subaltern backbone of Mumbai, India’s bustling commercial capital and a torchbearer of progress in the developing world. These are the people that make Mumbai throb and hum; street vendors, cab drivers, rickshaw-wallahs, massage-wallahs, police constables, astrologers, train commuters, itinerants. Each one is the center of his own private universe. A ‘working class hero’ indeed.

Vikram Zutshi is a filmmaker, writer and photographer based in Los Angeles. His last film, a docu-feature, Max Kennedy and the American Dream was filmed at various points along the 2000 mile US-Mexico border and has been broadcast in several countries. Vikram frequently writes and blogs on art, culture, religion and politics and is currently developing his next film, a narrative feature — The Byron Project.