The Real Slumdogs

Travel into the heart of the slum made famous by the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" -- Dharavi, in Mumbai, India. In this squalid, pest-ridden place with irregular water, intermittent electricity and open sewers, one million people are squeezed into just one square mile. But beneath the surface is a city with its own multimillion-dollar recycling industry and neighborhoods where ordinary people work hard to make a better life for themselves. National Geographic follows a number of Dharavi residents, such as Laxmi, a single mother who searches through garbage for recyclable materials and has just scraped up enough money to put her daughter into a local school; Shailesh, a rickshaw driver who wants to make it in Bollywood; and 12-year-old schoolboy Jigha, who dreams of becoming a scientist.

• documentary
• nonfiction