Welcome to India

Season 12012

With astonishing access into the densest districts of Kolkata and Mumbai, this three-part documentary for BBC2 celebrates the impressive resourcefulness, resilience and unbridled pragmatism of those living and working there.

Overview Episodes Videos Photos Download

3 Episodes

E01 Gold Hunting

Kaale has come to Kolkata in search of gold - incredibly, he earns a living by sweeping the streets of the jewellery district for stray gold dust. But to fulfil his business ambitions, he must escape his landlord and rent a room of his own. His plan pushes even his resourcefulness to the limit: dredging for gold in Kolkata's drains.

October 3, 2012

E02 Recycling

Johora started out as a rag-picker, but through building a bottle recycling business on a railway embankment, she has big ambitions for her family of seven kids. When the local gangsters increase their protection payment demands, she boldly takes out a big loan and attempts to push her illegal business to another level. And it's not just small waste. Kanye uses a handheld blowtorch to cut up ships discarded by the rest of the world, helping satisfy India's thirst for steel. His dangerous but relatively well-paid job educates his three daughters and provides his ticket to a brighter future. But his hopes are in jeopardy when he is laid off. Ashik buys up beef fat from the abattoir and proudly renders it down to make tallow. It looks disgusting, even before he is plagued by a maggot infestation. But this thrifty use of waste may well be destined for your soap or cosmetics.

October 10, 2012

E03 Acting

Prakash and Mangesh are brothers in their early twenties from an illegal settlement surrounded by the buzz of downtown Mumbai. Prakash is deckhand on a yacht while striving to realise his dream and launch a Bollywood career. But his family are playing the long game, and make it clear his sole purpose is to earn enough to fund in their joint future: his brother Mangesh's course in software engineering. Apparently doomed to be the underdog, an audition does finally come Prakash's way.

October 17, 2012

Welcome to India

E01 Gold Hunting

E02 Recycling

E03 Acting

Battlestar Galactica

I Am Not an Animal

Bull

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Reboot

Evil Genius

Loki

Tin Man

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

A Small Light

Gavin & Stacey

The Watcher

Planet Earth III

The Moaning of Life

Better Call Saul

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

Life on Call

Two Guys and a Girl

Policeman from Rublyovka

Love

E01 Gold Hunting

E02 Recycling

E03 Acting