User Reviews

Anurag Kashyap's 'Bombay Velvet' has finally arrived. But was all the hype & hoopla worth it? The answer, in my personal opinion, is a No! Reason? Well, despite a budget of early 100crs & all the visual splendor on display, this magnum-opus fails in its scripting level, which is its biggest disadvantage!

'Bombay Velvet' Synopsis: An ordinary man goes against all odds and forges his destiny to become a 'Big Shot'.

'Bombay Velvet' is visually terrific & the Art Design is truly remarkable. There is no doubt that 'Bombay Velvet' is highly ambitious & passionately made, but where this biggie falters is its Script. And no film, no matter how big your budget or how rich in treatment, can rise above a weak Screenplay.

'Bombay Velvet' which is based on historian Gyan Prakash's book Mumbai Fables, is a soulless exercise of the yesteryear's. Kashyap & his Team of Writers deliver a story full of loopholes. For one, you don't feel for any of its characters. Be it Johnny Balraj, the protagonist, or his lady-love, Rosie. You never feel ecstatic when they rise above the odds or feel sad when the powerful bodies intend to destroy them. The love-story is ordinarily treated, while the aspect of ambition & crime combined, is lackluster to say the least. The first-hour is a blend of love & creed, while the second-hour is twisted mix of thrills & grotesque action. Sadly, nothing really works!

Kashyap's Direction oozes dreamlike ambition, but its his Shoddily Written Screenplay, that spoils the fun. Technically, the film doesn't falter on any level. Right from the richly done Cinematography, the dazzling Art & Costume Design or Amit Trivedi's mesmerizing Score. Its all done with pure skill. How one wishes, if the Script was half as strong as its technicalities.

'Bombay Velvet' has one more ace & that's Ranbir Kapoor, who's simply superb as the power hungry protagonist. Ranbir displays rage, affection & helplessness, with remarkable conviction. He's doesn't fail to engage, even when the film fails too.

Of the rest of the cast, Anushka Sharma is strictly okay as Rosie. Karan Johar hams as the villain. Manish Choudhary is as usual. Kay Kay Menon is wasted in a tiny role, while Vivaan Shah does a good job as Rosie's chauffeur, who secretly loves her.

On the whole, 'Bombay Velvet' is a letdown in all respects. Body Beautiful, Minus Soul!

Most of the people are blaming Kashyap for not maintaining 'reality' in this film. It is shocking to see that very few people are trying to grasp what Kashyap actually tried to convey, that nostalgic feeling. He could have easily made a more 'realistic' period drama like Ashim Ahluwalia's "Miss Lovely", but he did'nt, why? Because he wanted the film to be made according to the structure of the films made in the period with which the film is concerned. On close observation we notice the close similarity of the background synopsis between Bombay Velvet and old age Bollywood mainstream cinemas. Kashyap recreates the atmosphere and the ambiance of the lavish sets in the films of 1960's through the set designs of the Bombay Velvet club in the film. Even in the opening scene Kashyap tried to convey this message by first showing actual scenes of clubs in Mumbai (of that period) and then slowly dissolving into the actual film (The poster of the film is also made in a vintage style). Based on the historian Gyan Prakash's book "Mumbai Fables", Bombay Velvet connects many true events of that period, the character Rosie in the film is inspired by a real Jazz singer in the 50's and 60's. It is also loosely inspired by the famous rivalry between two newspaper editors D F Karaka and Russi Karanjia who published controversial weeklies Current and Blitz at that time.

Moreover it parodies the unrealistic approach of the concept of twins in the films of that time. Kashyap maintains minute details in the film from cars to shops to matchstick boxes, all belonging to that era. The film revolves around the political turbulence of Mumbai in the 60's regarding the domination of land by gangsters and politicians. It also deals with the illegal trade and smuggling of silver, drugs and alcohol (alchohol was banned in Mumbai in the 60's, giving rise to gangsters like Jenabai Daruwali, Haji Mastan and young Dawood). The background scores are perfectly juxtaposed with the film giving a heightened awareness of that period. There are many subtle hints of reference of the type of films made in that period, even in the scene where J. Balraj escapes the police in disguise. This film is being highly misinterpreted by many people. Instead of negatively criticizing it, people must try to see it through Kashyaps' perspective. From the set to story to characters, in everything we can discover a nostalgic feeling of the 60's. Kashyap's imagination dominates the film.

BOMBAY VELVET - Its a serious case of Anurag Kashyap trying to be commercial gone wrong. "Dear Anurag Sir - You are such a great talent of of uniqueness in modern film making that you have got a different group of fans following your movies. You have given us hope that Bollywood is not just about only Nach Gana , beautiful foreign location and larger then life heroes doing anti gravity action sequence. So why did you tried to make a film using such a plot which has been already overused and doing nothing new with it just upgrading the technical department. But let me tell you , the brilliance of technical department can make a good movie brilliant but cant do anything good to an above average movie " Speaking of the technical department the production design has done a brilliant job. The whole movie has been shot in Sri Lanka but right from the start the movie takes you to the era of 50s and 60s of Bombay. In fact after watching the Premiere Rishi Kapoor has tweeted that Anurag Kashyap has transformed Sri Lanka into the Street of Bombay he use to play in his childhood. Second department to be appreciated is the music department. Amit Trivedi has brought us the real Jazz alive in front of us. The drum beats of back ground music are still ringing in my ears. But i have a little complain with the genre of music chosen by him while making the songs. Trivedi has chosen the typical Jazz genre which is not at all famous in India and only can be appreciated by Die Hard fans of Jazz. Instead of this he could have used the soft romantic genre of Jazz which has been used in Bollywood and quite liked by the audience in 50s and 60s (For example - The FIFI song.). Leaving the Jazz collection there is a non Jazz song 'Beherupia' which has been sang and represented in a soulful manner.

Next we come to the screenplay which is the real enemy of the movie. Just because it tries to play too much safe , the movie doesn't even make you feel like it has been made my Anurag Kashayp. Anurag has a quality to dig out comic situations in serious and dark stories. And in spite being a light hearted film there were very few comic situation in it which you can count in your finger. Plot of the movie has a lot of element the movie doesn't describe any of them. That's actually shocking thing as Anurag has been a director of detailing , remember how he made us experience the evolution of Bihar and Jharkhand in Gangs Of Wassypur. The same doesn't happen is case of Bombay. The movie tells us that the base of Bombay has been put up on conspiracies and scams but the screenplay is such a haywire that you can't actually understand what is the conspiracy going on. Neither the actions of opposite parties clears any of their intentions. And how could you relate to characters if you don't know their intentions. Speaking of characters Ranbir is back after Roy , he always give his 100% and he does the same here. His madness for becoming BIG SHOT and his childish intensity in love are something to watch out. Anushka has been disappeared from Bollywood for 1 and a half year after Matru Ki Bijli , as she was working in 4 films together releasing in a time period of 7 months. She has given powerhouse performance in P.K and NH10 selecting unique characters not the usual glamorous characters of Bollywood heroins . In Bombay Velvet the character of Rosie is although glamorous but there is a grounded attitude in her. She knows her boundaries , she know this glamour life is not her own and is gifted by someone else . Also for an extra applause Anushka as a singer has done a tremendous job. In fact in a song called DHADAAM DHADAAM she has given such an intensity to it that you will forget for sometime that she is only lip-sing and not actually singing. That brings us to Kjo the debutant here. Karan Johar's character could have been a little better if he would have a real maniac which actually he is but in a gentlemen manner. He is not a kind of person who will beat his enemy to death by his own hand rather he will ask his man to do that job while watching it simultaneously eating his food. Some of the good comic scenes has been given to him related to when on using wrong English by the other person he goes out of the room to laugh and also some indications to his likeness of gender in sexual preferences(i hope you can understand what i am saying.) . K K Menon has been lost in the first half only comes in the second didn't getting much chance to do anything. Length of the movie is a question which actually feels long but the fact is that you will not actually able to detect scenes which are not required. So have get bored with the length. I would have liked if Anurag have tried to make the same kinds if movies he makes with a bigger star for gaining more audience(like Badlapur with Varun Dhawan) rather then making a commercial film which is not his kind of genre. With this film he has lost his touch. Hope he will come back. That too with a hard hitting effect.. 6.4/10 By ANuP APu KuMaR