When the sun goes down, India’s megacity most intense side comes to light. Queer subculture, everyday slum life and spiritual celebrity culture – Mumbai nightlife could hardly be more diverse. Anything is possible, here!

Mumbai: India’s financial, commercial and entertainment center. This is the New York of South Asia, according to many of its inhabitants. Here, they say, anything is possible and hard work pays off. Like New York City, Mumbai is a melting pot of different cultures and lifestyles – and a city that never sleeps. Between red carpets and slums, this documentary shows a city full of contrasts.

Reporter Johannes Hano explores the night with a motorcycle gang. He experiences Bollywood glamour, celebrates an Indian wedding and immerses himself in the harsh life of the slums. He rides through the chaotic night-time streets in a three-wheeler with queer Muslim drag artist Zeesh, and talks to him on a red carpet. Zeesh speaks openly about his initially difficult relationship with his mother after coming out, diversity in India and his path to the cover of Indian Vogue. Rochelle Pinto from Vogue India describes the fashion industry’s take on what Zeesh embodies in his nightly stage shows: the shift towards more diversity and a different set of attitudes.

But change is also a question of self-empowerment. Take Amruta Mane, for example: at the age of 21, she founded a motorcycle driving school for women called Women on Wheels. In doing so, she’s creating spaces for independence – in a society where self-determination is often not a given.

Radhe Maa has a somewhat different community. Her followers say she’s a deity (godwoman) and she’s as revered as she is controversial. She’s omnipresent in Mumbai: posters bearing her image look down on the city streets.

But not all faces are so visible, especially at night when most people are asleep. In Dharavi, one of the largest slums in the world, reporter Johannes Hano meets a baker. And in Dhobi Ghat, the largest open-air laundry in the world, he visits a laundry worker at home – and looks on, as he goes about his tough job.

Mumbai – encounters with people whose courage, creativity and diversity are inspiring.

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