Tapoori is a visually stunning film, and a powerful human story of survival. It is an intimate and candid look at two street boys in Bombay.

Subra is fourteen years old and has been living at the Victoria Railway Station for three years. He survives through toughness, guile and hard work, but since he is small he has to pay off the older boys for protection. The film follows Subra as he decides whether to stay on the streets where he is lonely and vulnerable, or return home to his village and family, where in the past he had been beaten by his father.

Anwar is sixteen years old and has been living on the streets of Bombay's red light district since he lost both his parents when he was eight. The other street boys are Anwar's family now. They earn money by picking trash from the streets and selling what they find at the market. To escape their dreary life, they inhale glue, they patronize the local prostitutes, and visit the video parlours. While there are some social workers that reach out to them, there is little that can be done to improve their lives.