In the footsteps of Slumdog Millionaire - taking a slum tour in Mumbai, India

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You saw it in Slumdog Millionaire but is taking a tour of Asia’s biggest slum in bad taste? We went to Mumbai to find out.

Entering Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, is like falling down a rabbit hole into an underground world. The buildings are so close together they almost meet overhead, plunging us into semi-darkness at 11am and making it hard for our eyes to adjust and see the hive of activity taking place all around.

The success of Slumdog ­Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s ­colourful interpretation of Mumbai poverty, has thrown light on the cracks between the ­corrugated iron shacks of Dharavi, where the film was set, and opened up the city within a city, home to 600,000 of Mumbai’s population of 14 million.

A no-go for the well-heeled and a world away from the glamorous financial and film world of India’s largest, richest and most overcrowded city, Dharavi’s dirt and darkness stands in stark contrast as the rest of the city grows taller and cleaner around its slums. In the past two years, the authorities have cleaned up Mumbai dramatically – the mounds of rubbish that lined the streets when I last visited three years ago are now whisked away by twice-daily street sweeps.

But in a strip of land where property prices match those in London, Manhattan and Tokyo, average earnings don’t come close. Millions of people are pushed into dirty and crowded slums – and ­increasing numbers of tourists are keen to see how.

In the film, lead character Jamal tries to earn some extra cash by taking American tourists on an improvised slum tour. In fact, visitors have been able to visit ­Dharavi for the past three years. Reality Tours was founded by Briton Chris Way and his ­Indian business partner Krishna Pujari. The aim? To take visitors off the tourist map and show them the thriving hub that exists in one of the world’s most famous slums.

At the start of the tour, walking down the tightly packed warrens of the residential area seems hugely invasive. Families are packed into single rooms and squeezing past the open doorways feels like walking through someone’s living room – we hear the blast of a TV, mothers scolding their children and the clatter of pots and pans being cleared away.

But is the tour in good taste or does it just allow visitors to get their kicks before going back to their comfortable lives? Pujari insists that it’s not about gawping at the misfortune of others, but about educating the tourists. “When we started out we explained to the residents why we were doing this. People were ashamed to be from Dharavi and we wanted to show the positive side.

“Yes, there’s no sanitation and people work in appalling conditions, but there’s a lot of energy. People work hard, they run successful businesses, they provide for their children. It’s not full of criminals – people look after each other and there’s a real sense of community.”

Reality Tours works with non-government organisations to give 80 per cent of profits back to the slum; this year it’s funding a school for 350 children in Dharavi.

The tour stays away from “through the keyhole” style peeks at actual homes and aims to show that, as Mumbai has grown richer, the slums have, too. Among the piles of rubbish and open sewers, Dharavi generates an annual $665m towards $­national gross domestic product and is a hive of cottage industries. Many focus on recycling and reselling goods and there’s an entire business quarter ­divided into different sections.

Walking through, we take in Mr Khan’s soap factory, where he buys shavings of soap from manufacturers, melts them and packages them up for sale. We see ­textile mini-factories where fabric is dyed and hung out to dry, ready for export, clay pots drying in the sun, and two boys separating the ­bottle lids into different colours for recycling.

The guides are all Mumbaikars, speak Hindi and have been conducting the tours from the start. The residents know them so it’s comfortable to ask questions, instead of feeling that you’re just there to watch. The kids are keen to chat with visitors – we talk about cricket, school and how we use similar biros, proving that six-year-olds everywhere can find ­common ground with you.

As tourists, spurred on by Slumdog, are cottoning on to a world beyond upscale ­Mumbai, the residents of Dharavi face possible ­eviction from what has now become prime real estate.

So, catch it while you can – ­Dharavi is far from ideal but those that have made it their home have created a ­bustling energetic base that is as much a part of Mumbai as its street food and skyscrapers.

The three-hour walking tours take place daily and cost £5.80, realitytoursandtravel.com

Sort it

Get there: ­Kingfisher Airlines flies to Mumbai from £345, ­flykingfisher.com

Where to stay:

Minted: Oberoi ­Trident

The five-star ­minimalist palace on the ­beachfront at Nariem Point has some of the best views of the skyline and the bay. Doubles from £263, oberoihotels.com

Skinted: West End ­Hotel Great location in the heart of Colaba ­overlooking the bay. ­Doubles from £85, westendhotelmumbai.com

Packaged up: Trans Indus has a ­seven-day Mumbai package with four-star accommodation, transfers, sightseeing and guide from £798pp (excluding flights), transindus.com

Five more Mumbai hits

1 - Shop at Colaba Causeway

Just behind the Gateway to India with its street performers and wandering salesmen pushing postcards and the same tat you find in every large city (giant balloons and mini etch-a-sketch) lies Colaba Causeway. The city’s prime tourist area is crammed with clothes shops, stalls, bars, restaurants and an open-air fruit and vegetable market. Even though it can be overwhelming, it’s worth visiting for the hustle and bustle of a bazaar. As a tourist, be prepared to be patronised, haggle hard and aim to leave without too many pairs of sandals, sunglasses and knock-off DVDs.

2 - Eat vada pav at Chowpatty Beach

Mumbai has been a melting pot for migrants from all over India for centuries and the street food sold on every corner sums up this mish-mash. If you’re going to eat only one thing, make it the signature street snack, vada pav – a spicy fried potato burger in a soft roll. Take a walk north up the seafront on Marine Drive, with its battered pastel-coloured art-deco buildings made famous by countless Bollywood films, and you’ll end up at Chowpatty Beach. It’s crowded and dirty, so isn’t a great place to swim or sunbathe, but it does boast an outstanding array of food stalls – tuck in with the hand-holding couples and after-school kids.

3 - Take a day trip to the Elephanta caves

An hour by boat off the coast of Mumbai are the Elephanta caves, home to a seventh-century temple carved out of rock and dedicated to Lord Shiva. The city can get a little hectic and the boat journey to Elephanta Island is a chance to chill out as well as get a spectacular view of the Mumbai skyline from the bay. The temple sits in the rock face at the top of the island and is spread over 60,000sq ft. The intricately carved pillars and images of gods and goddesses have been damaged over the years but one of the best preserved is a 20ft-high bust of the three faces of Lord Shiva. Boats (£1.45) go every half hour from the Gateway of India from 9am-2.30pm, entry costs £3.65.

4 - Get blessed at  the Siddhivinayak Temple

In go-getting Mumbai, Ganesh, the elephant-headed God and “remover of obstacles”, is the city’s most popular idol. The Siddhivinayak Temple – Mumbai’s richest – is dedicated to Ganesh and flooded with worshippers from Bollywood stars to street vendors who come to ask for his blessings. Outside the tall, white temple, stalls sell garlands, fruit and Indian sweets as offerings, and the crowds queue noisily for their turn to catch a glimpse of the small, colourful statue at its centre.

5 - Hit the bars

As India’s party capital, Mumbai plays hard and bar trends fall out of fashion fast. For a safe bet, start out early and catch the sunset at Dome Bar on the roof of the Intercontinental Hotel (135 Marine Drive). Sit on the white sofas and check out the outstanding views of the sea and skyline before heading over to perennial South Mumbai favourite Indigo (4 Mandlik Road, Colaba) to get squashed and dance until the early hours.