Bombay Velvet’s protagonist has an impetuous temperament that brings him misery. If you venture to go watch this movie, do so with minimal expectations or you could end up feeling just like that. I was let down by a slew of factors.
The first act of the movie is the most disappointing as it has so many jump cuts that it is just way too annoying from a viewer’s perspective. You never get a chance to settle down into the movie. The second act does get marginally better, only to squander it with a plethora of characters popping in and out of the screen. At this point, the story loses focus, and the director doesn’t seem to make any real impression. It seems ages before the final act commences, which, by the way, is far better than the previous ones, and you well know that nothing can redeem this movie from the clutches of mediocrity.
Rosie Noronha (Bombay Velvet Review)
If there is apparently one area where Bombay Velvet comes up trumps it is visually. However, it is quite surprising for a movie that tries to recreate the erstwhile Bombay that it doesn’t have a single memorable tune.
Bombay Velvet revolves around a young boy, Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor), who comes to Bombay and subsequently lives in a brothel with his buddy, Chimman (Satyadeep Misra). In his company, he takes to the ways of crime and occasionally streetfights to vent his anger. A conniving businessman, Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar) hires Balraj, who he re-christens Johnny, and Chimman as his hit men.
Rosie Noronha (Anushka Sharma), who like Johnny has also landed in Bombay, has her aspirations and finds a lecherous godfather in Jimmy Mistry (Manish Chaudhary), who runs a successful tabloid.
Johnny and Rosie, who have known each other for quite a while and have amorous feelings for each other, are doing rather good. Rosie is a singer at the prestigious nightclub Bombay Velvet, and Johnny is by now Khambhatta’s trusted hit man who also manages Bombay Velvet that Khambhatta owns. However, things are about to get rough for both of them as the battle between businessmen, mill owners, media barons, politicians, and other influential people of the city hots up.
It is unclear whether the director wants to confuse the audience by muddling the plot or if it is deliberate to make it more compelling. Either way, it backfires. I am certain that someone of the class of Anurag Kashyap will bounce back in no time at all.
Given the constraints of their characters, most of the actors have played their parts convincingly. Though none of them is remarkable, and the likes of Kay Kay Menon and Siddhartha Basu have hardly any impact, which often happens when you have superfluous characters or storylines muffling the central theme. The action sequences are well-orchestrated for the greater part but lack that special thrust needed to make them standout.
On the whole, Bombay Velvet misses the mark by a long way. If you have nothing better to watch at home then maybe you can head to the theater and catch this one or else wait for it to release on cable.
What do you think?