India, Sept. 13 -- Sooni Taraporevala refers to Mumbai as Bombay. The nomenclature was altered three decades ago but the insistence by the multi-hyphenate artiste - filmmaker, screenwriter and photographer - is less of a nostalgic yearning. It is her way of alluding to a space she is infinitely familiar with and reckoning with the possibilities that eroded with time.

In Taraporevala's rich career, spanning close to 40 years and comprising writing screenplays adapted from novels, Mumbai has been the beating heart. It hasn't, however, recurred as a muse, immune to censure. But as something more vital that has shapeshifted with time and the writer's gaze has evolved with it. In Mira Nair's 'Salaam Bombay!' (1988), she dug out the specks of ...