“Ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan, yeh hai Bombay, yeh hai Bombay, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan” (It’s tough to live here, it’s Bombay, my dear) —Johnny Walker

singing Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics in CID

Going by his floppy-comic caper, the traipsing Johnny Walker is clearly enjoying his lot; his song a humorous, romantic resignation leavening the manifold hardships of the newly arrived. But numerous Bollywood movies have taken a grittier, grimier approach—from Shree 420 (1955) through to Deewar and Satya, Nayakan, Diksha, Daman and the recently released City­lights. A character in the latest film echoes hundreds of screen protagonists when he says Mumbai gives you enough, but only at a high price.

Contrarily, many Mumbaikars now feel that the city claims too much, while the returns are diminishing at a furious pace. Diana Mascarenhas, for insta­nce, has been a pucca Bandra girl all...