Bombay Velvet Review

One line Review: Excellent performances by the star cast makes the story believable, disappointing screenplay and perplexing sequences drags the plot down.

Positive Points: Praiseworthy performances by the actors. Ranbir Kapoor actually carries the entire film on his shoulders. The realistic depiction of Bombay of the 1960s, details of the bygone era and a gorgeous attempt to showcase the former Bombay, the post-independence chaos, and similar stuff are a few likable aspects of the movie.

Negative Points: Too many happenings, chaotic sequences, foggy characters make the movie a disappointing one.

Plot: The story revolves around the protagonist named Johny Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor). Two years after the independence, Balraj and his mother migrate to Bombay in search of a livelihood. But the cruel realities of the city forces his mother to turn into a prostitute and the little Balraj had to stay in a brothel. Grown up witnessing utter poverty and all the bitter and gruesome acts, Balraj becomes a big time crook. His sole aim in life is to become a 'Big Shot' and his childhood best friend and partner in crime Chiman (Satyadeep Mishra) is with him throughout supporting his atrocities.

As the story proceeds, Balraj falls for Rosie Noronha (Anushka Sharma) who is a bar-club singer with a grave past. Rosie chooses to be with a rich, middle-aged Jamshed Mistry (Manish Choudhary) who is the editor of a famous newspaper. In the quest to become rich and have Rosie by his side, Johny bumps into Khambatta (Karan Johar) who is a villainous, moneyed, land dealer, by chance and then the doors to the rich and powerful open for him. He enters the mean world where everything bad can happen under the sun. To acquire the 'Big Shot' status, he becomes a cold-blooded killer. Khambatta becomes his godfather and makes him the manager of the elite class club -'Bombay Velvet'. This is the place for all the illegal deals and smugglings. Rosie becomes the voice of Bombay Velvet and now the love interest of Johny Balraj. What the dreadful world has it for Johny, Rosie and Khambatta is the further watch in the film.

Direction and other Technical Aspects: Anurag and his team manage to portray the Bombay of the 1950s exceptionally well. The art director has done a fabulous job as the film is visually beautiful. The music and the background score failed to impress and the screenplay was disappointing. The storytelling was unclear and perplexing. The dialogues lacked the punch and the expected witty one liners were missing.

Performances: Almost all the actors gave a realistic performance in the movie. Starting with Ranbir Kapoor, he is exceptional as Balraj and does not even act out of character for a brief moment. This is the first time Ranbir plays a gangster-like character breaking his regular image and does a praiseworthy job. Anushka Sharma also gave her best performance in the film. She tried her best to showcase the mannerisms of a real Jazz Singer of the bygone days. Karan Johar's villainous character role was a so-so one.

Music: To be factual, the music, the songs, and the background score were too piercing to handle and not so impressive.

Final Verdict: For the audiences, Anurag Kashyap's period drama - 'Bombay Velvet' can be a onetime ride into the bygone world of Bombay of the 1950s!