The Lonely Planet Six Degrees concept is to explore the world's coolest cities by connecting with the people who live in them. By emphasising the human dimension of travel, Lonely Planet Six Degrees moves beyond sightseeing and offers the surest way of being whisked off your feet and fast-tracked to the heart of the city. Avoiding the well known tourist attractions, each Lonely Planet Six Degrees journey begins with a traveler arriving in a new city with just a single point of contact. From this initial encounter a chain of connectivity is forged across the city as one person leads to another and another and another. Meeting six strangers in sixty minutes, our traveller experience the city through the eyes of some of its most colourful and clued-in residents, proving that it's the people, the lives they lead, and the stories they tell that give a city its soul, rather than just the bricks and mortar.

LONELY PLANET: SIX DEGREES Mumbai
Determined to fulfil her dream of being in a Bollywood movie, presenter Asha Gill gets the low-down on Bollywood's raunchy moves from acclaimed choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant. Studio heir Riyad Wadia gives Asha the dummies guide to all things Bollywood at one of the last remaining hand-painted movie poster workshops in the city, and dazzles her with the bright lights of the city's club-hopping scene. Asha meets street photographer David de Souza chronicling the itinerants that work on Mumbai's streets and grasps the chance to understand who these people are before they disappear by helping in a studio shoot of a traditional flagellant. Man about town Thomas Cherian shows Asha a backroom collection of ancient Indian erotica in Chor Bazaar and teaches her how to best savour the flavour of Mumbai food street-style. Asha is invited to a hijira house by the flamboyant cross-dressing eunuch Lakshmi to get a privileged insight into India's 'third sex', and gets access to a Hindu wedding when she joins a flock of hijiras dancing to bless the happy couple's union. Asha gets an inkling of Mumbai's place in the global economy when she joins Afshan at an international call centre, where the workers are undergoing surreal voice training to mimic American accents. And finally Asha gets her big break, joining Vaibhavi on set at Film City to dance in a dramatic Bollywood number with the biggest star in Indian cinema history - Amitabh Bachchan.