Bombay Velvet Movie Review

Bombay Velvet has been in the news since the time it was announced. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar in the lead, the film is inspired from Gyan Prakash’s book, Mumbai Fables, which is a story about the city’s recent history. Bombay Velvet is director Anurag Kashyap’s first big-budget film, which has had its share of controversies. But the big question is, has Kashyap managed to prove his detractors wrong, does Bombay Velvet keep the audience engaged for 2 and a half hours? Let’s find out!

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Story: Bombay is the principal character in Bombay Velvet. It showcases how Bombay has evolved over the years through the journey of Johnny Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor).  A boxer turned goon, his journey in boxing begins when he gets in the boxing ring of free-for-all fighting to earn some easy Money. As the film progresses Johnny and his best friend Chiman (Satyadeep Misra) become ace-henchmen for Kaizad Khambata (Karan Johar).  Kaizad then gifts the ‘Bombay Velvet’ club as a goodwill gesture to Johnny. Bombay Velvet becomes the hub of Bombay, attracting everyone’s attention, especially Jimmy Mistry’s (Manish Chaudhary). Mistry, as a ploy to finish Johnny and Khambatta’s monopoly, sends the beautiful jazz singer Rosie (Anushka Sharma) as a honey trap to lure Johnny. He realises that Johnny already has his heart set on Rosie. Unable to guess the truth behind Rosie’s sudden love, Johnny immediately accepts her. Meanwhile things turn hunky-dory between Johnny and Kaizad as well. The plot thickens when Kaizad tries to create a divide between Johnny and Chinman. Johnny also realises the truth behind Rosie’s past. Who ultimately succeeds and emerges victorious forms the crux of the film.

Also Read: Bombay Velvet Critic Reviews

Bombay Velvet Review: The biggest flaw in Bombay Velvet is its pace and storytelling. The story of friendship, love and deceit, is something that we have all seen in several Bollywood films. The visual presentation and performances are brilliant, however, they cannot compensate for a good script. The film lacks soul and one really cannot feel for any of the characters. The climax is a big let-down. Ideally, Bombay Velvet should have been further edited as the film completely falls apart in the second half. So much so that you no longer care for the story or its characters.

Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar - Bombay Velvet

Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar – Bombay Velvet Movie Review

The art and costume department deserves a special mention. The efforts that they have put into the film, deserves appreciation. Music by Amit Trivedi further adds to the woes. There is not a single song that one can recollect after the film. In fact, each song in Bombay Velvet acts as speed-breakers, ruining the pace of the film.

The biggest strength of Anurag Kashyap lies in extracting the best performances from all his characters. Ranbir Kapoor lives the character of Johnny Balraj, rising above the weak script in several scenes. Watch him in the scene where he threatens Kaizad Khambatta and one is rest assured that he has a long career ahead of him. Surprisingly, Karan Johar makes an impressive debut (full-fledged role) as the menacing Kaizad Khambatta. The unpredictability and uncertainty in his character is one of the key highlights of the film. Watch him in the scene where he just bursts out laughing when he hears Johnny’s accent. Anushka Sharma as Rosie is honest in her portrayal. However, she is overshadowed by the other characters in the film. Her chemistry with Ranbir is good.

Ranbir’s best friend Chinman (Satyadeep Mishra) is absolutely brilliant. He doesn’t have many dialogues in the film, but he impresses with his expressions. The same can be said for (Jimmy Mistry) Manish Chaudhary.  Tony (Vivaan Shah) is good in a brief role. Kay Kay Menon does well too.

Overall, Bombay Velvet is a brave attempt that falls way short of expectations. If only the script was as impressive as the visual grandeur of the film. It does have good performances, excellent production design and fantastic costumes. Everything else misfires big time, including Anurag Kashyap’s direction.

 

Positives

  • Performances are good. Ranbir and Karan Johar do well.
  • Production design and

Negatives

  • Slow pace, direction
  • Weak script
  • Music

 

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

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45 Comments

  • ranbir fans welcome to earth just one blind hit yjhd and everyone forgets ranbir is just a star for example even harbhajan singh makes fastest 50 in ipl but that doesn’t mean he becomes batsmen same applies to ranbir one blind hit bcoz of superhit music + deepika & his stupid fans calling him superstar really funny fans now see bombay velvet got worst opening of the year anurag kashyap deserves this and so as ranbir overconfident fans u guys should not mess with superstar’s fans of srk, salman, akki, hrithik & ajay u can’t repect ur senior actors than this will happen to you bombay velvet is sure to be big flop huge loss for industry

  • Indicine reviews SUCK.
    Do @indicine know the meaning of “TWO” that they gave it so easily?
    Indicine ratings:
    Tevar: 3/5
    Entertainment: 3.5/5
    Gabbar: 3.5/5
    Alone: 2.5/5
    Gori Tere Pyaar Mein: 3.5/5

    so, for indicine, these above five films are better than Bombay Velvet? ? ? ?

    Oops.. I forgot 1 thing! Last year they had given 3.5/5 stars to Entertainment and Hap. Ending , but they later mentioned in worst movies list!
    HYPOCRISY AT ITS BEST!

  • My good Ness…..I must say never seen such a bore movie like this one all my life specially on such a big budget .what is the use of grand sets if there is no soul in the movie and it keep on dragging till the death of film.to be very honest I find it pretty similar to gangs of wassaypur .only difference is its backdrop Bombay of 60’s instead of bihar….same lust deciet and fight for power.even gow was alot better on entertainment value and originality…special mention kjo looked so fake acting is not his cup of tea for sure….anushka is waste in the movie and so kay kay….expectations were high but this one is a big let down

  • @Nipun… you are the biggest hypocrite on Indicine.. You think of yourself as a knowledgeable critic, but let me tell you, your reviews and choice of films suck big time!

    You won’t like films like Gabbar, Rowdy Rathore or Kick.. just because your Hollywood-licking critics like Masand and Anupama Chopra.. won’t like it.. You try to like films based on their ratings. LOL. But when it comes to Krrish and Bang Bang, you suddenly change your colours. If this is not hypocrisy, then what is?

    Gabbar Is Back and Entertainment are any day better films. Atleast you can go to the theatres and not get bored. I watched Bombay Velvet today morning and it almost put me to sleep in the morning, after a good nights sleep.

    I have been following Indicine reviews from 2008.. and I feel their reviews go well with what I feel about a movie and also box office..

    And weren’t you the same guy who posted that liking is a film is subjective.. just a few days back?

  • Bombay Velvet failure is Big Slap to idiots lyk nipun & arjun kapoor fan who were predicating 150cr lol two minute silence for this 2 idiots of indicine

  • Only reason why Nipun is thrashing Indicine review is because he liked the music of Bombay Velvet.. LOL!!

    Booking on Bookmyshow (I work for the company) is worse than Roy.. Epic disaster!!

  • I completely agree with @nipun,if 2rs movies like tevar, kick, gabbar, entertainment and manipulative controversial shameful unsocialised movie also able to get 3/3+ star, but 2 star for an anurag kashyap movie!!!!!I can’t believe it’s @indicine’s review. hopefully mistakes will be rectified.

  • look who’s crying. our resident baby critik. indicine reviews are at least better than your pathetic ones. keep it up indicine.

  • Well, I have no problems that indicine didn’t like it. But I’m trying to say that indicine should be equally balanced/strict for all movies!
    For some bad films, they give positive reviews. But for others, they rate them negative.

    @Suneil: they only Hro-film I have reviewed so far is Bang Bang! And I had given an average review for that. Where did u see my colour-changing characteristic? As for K3, many had liked it!
    Liking a film is subjective,but being biased is not good for a Popular bollywood site!

    @srk fan: where and when did I give prediction for BV collections? ? I had never predicted anything about it! 150 crores is impossible!

  • @Nipun… you’re contradicting yourself. You say liking a film is subjective, then say Indicine is biased and they like some bad movies.

    So when it’s subjective, how can you call it bad? Maybe they liked it? I personally enjoyed Happy New Year and Kick. Didn’t like Bang Bang even though I am a big Hrithik fan. And I enjoy Gabbar Is Back, Entertainment, Rowdy Rathore, Housefull 2.. but didn’t like Khiladi 786.

    Even though everyone is praising Piku.. I didn’t find anything special in that film or Dum Laga Ke Haisha.. But it doesn’t mean anyone else shouldn’t like or dislike it.

    Stop criticising reviews of others.. and indirectly forcing your opinion. You’ve been doing this for a long time.. starting from Lootera, which put a lot of people to sleep. Not to mention a box office disaster.

  • better to watch gabbar is back or piku second time instead of this so called crap classical film

  • Indicine Good Review .
    & Gabbar is back ka review ekdum bang on tha indicine..
    even Delhi CM Arvind kejriwal Appreciated Gabbar by tweeting .

  • Its music has been loved by majority of critics!

    And
    @suneil: ofcourse, they are sometimes biased. Have you read their reviews of some films? They sometimes mention 3-4 limitations of a film, but give them 4 stars. There HNY review was an example of it.

  • Sorry @Arjun Youngistaan Fan,i a skipping it now..will watch DDD instead!

    @nipun: How can you say that Bombay Velvet is better than kick,Gabbar n others when you have’nt watched it yet? How can you say it is a good film just by watching its trailer?
    Sorry but I agree with @suniel here,ok you did’nt like kick,HNY,Gabbar and we respect your opinion but that does’nt mean everyone has’nt liked it..actually majority liked these films.And you need to respect that.You try to force your views on others which is why people bash you here for ur reviews.Also why should anyone trust your Rajeev Masand and Anupama Chopra’s ratings?? They have their own taste which might be very different from others.
    Agree that @indicine have not been perfect either as they can’t satisfy each n every individual with their reviews,some of their reviews for ex:Entertainment have’nt been good but then name a critic whose every review would have hit bulls eye.

  • The only way to know its a bad film is to watch it.. and people dont have money to spare over trash

  • @Babaji.. No critic can hit the bulls eye, because there isn’t one. There are no right or wrong critics. It’s just an opinion.

    But I hate critics like Masana and Anupama Chopra.. because the film that they like is not liked by majority of audience.

    Indicine on the other hand tries to cater to the general public. I hated them when they gave a low rating to Bang Bang.. but when I watched it, I realised that it didn’t have story or entertainment. It started and ended with Hrithik, his charisma, dance and physique.

    And people are Nipun are pseudo critics. They like a few movies (which noone likes) just because its considered intelligent and cool to like those movies. And they hate movies like Kick and Gabbar Is Back for opposite reason.

    The very reason why a lot of people know Nipun and even care about his reviews.. is because of Indicine and their platform.. and he says Indicine sucks. LOL.

  • Huhh! !
    @Babaji ka Thullu: When did I say that Bombay Velvet is a Good film? ? And When did I even mention about Kick??
    Ofcourse, I, in fact many can really predict that BV has to be a better film than those five films(particularly Entertainment,Alone and GTPM which were craps).
    And should I remind you about @Indicine’s Holiday review where you had criticized them for rating it lower than many bad films!

  • @suneil: i had never said, “INDICINE SUCKS”. I said that their reviews suck many times.
    And don’t say like I hate those films which are liked by Majority of audience! What about PK,3 idiots or ZNMD? And even masala films like Agneepath,Ghajini? Weren’t they liked by majority of audience?

    One should judge a film considering its quality/technicality, but not its genre! Otherwise, all the mass-friendly films should have been rated higher than off-beat dramas!

    As for my taste, I like films irrespective of its genre. But, that film has to be good!

  • Emraan Hashmi Talked Shit About Aamir
    Result 6 Flops in Line

    Anurag Kashyap Talked Shit About Aamir
    Same Result Mentioned As Above
    #BV

  • @nipun: The way u wrote that TWO suggests that u wanted a better rating!! Now BV has been rated 55 on indicine scale,Gabbar 52..but u say it must be better than it!!
    Yes i fought wid indicine at the tym of holiday coz they ignored logic n all at the time of D3 review n rated it on the basis of entertainment but for holiday they included it.

  • Nipun chakraborthy gigit ki tarah rang badal raha hai.
    I don’t read anupama or Rajeev masand review. They have made one specific model (i. e. Intellectual ) and they put every movie in that model. Last year I enjoyed most were kick, HNY, entertainment, pk etc. though entertainment didn’t work big at Bo but it was decent. Bang bang was very bad because there was every thing in that movie but no soul. Action without soul, romance without soul, story without soul. And hritik fans please don’t bash me for this. It was truth. Kick was far better product.

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