A real Mumbai slum

A view of Dharavi, the real slum where part of the story of “Slumdog Millionaire” plays out.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

A child stands in the doorway of her home in Nehru Nagar. Many Indians bristle at what they see as Western filmmakers’ focus on India’s poverty.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

People pass by a man resting on the ground in the Mumbai “shadow city” slum. Indian film expert Rochona Majumdar defended “Slumdog” saying, ‘But there is an underbelly. To say we don’t have problems is absurd.”  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Shah Rukh Munshi, 11, left, who acted in “Slumdog Millionaire”, and his mother, Regina Munshi, 28, center, near their home in a Mumbai shantytown where a part the Oscar-nominated film was shot.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

A girl studies in the doorway of her home in Dharavi, in Mumbai. It is Asia’s largest slum, and is where Golden Globe winner “ Slumdog Millionaire,” is set.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Children sit outside their homes in Dharavi. About half a million people live and work in Dharavi — recyclers, tailors, leather tanners, laundrymen, potters, cloth dyers and shopkeepers, all jammed into a single square mile.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Murugai Devender, 13, shows off his sunglasses as he stands in an open area adjacent to Nehru Nagar.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Naghma Rafiq Shaikh, 14, speaks on a cellphone in her home, one of the locations where a part of “Slumdog Millionaire” was shot.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Schoolchildren return home in Dharavi. Officials are seeking to demolish the slums and replace them with a gleaming collection of high-rise apartments, office towers and manicured parks, a plan opposed by residents.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

A child walks through an alley in Dharavi. Rags-to-riches tales used to dominate Bollywood from the late 1950s through the early 1980s as India worked to lift itself from hunger and poverty. But the recent economic boom has seen a focus on love stories and other middle-class fare.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)

Children look out at Dharavi from the window of a nearby building.  (Gautam Singh / Associated Press)