Movie Review: Bombay Velvet

Do you all know how Mumbai was formed? I guess many don't know yet. The film is all about how 7 islands were combined by higher authorities to form one big city, Bombay. On the other hand the movie also throws light on how women were abused during those times. 

Bombay Velve is a story of Balraj, Rossie and Bombay. Balraj dreams to be a big shot and is ready to do anything and everything for that. That's when he turns into Jhonny Balraj and opens a gentlemen club 'Bombay Velvet' with the help of Mr. Khambatta (Karan Johar). Rossie, a jazz singer, is abused by almost all the men in her life since childhood. It becomes very obvious when Jhonny sees her for the first time singing in a club and falls in love with her. The story keeps having twists and turns, some very obvious and some unpredictable, with the big shots of Bombay filling up lakes and cutting off jungles to make the 7 islands into one big city by playing dirty politics.

The movie starts at a good pace, introducing all the characters in first 20 mins and then moves on a slow pace. May be the makers realized that they should give time to the audience to understand who is who.

Ranbir Kapoor's character, Jhonny Balraj, has different shades - boxer, mobster, murderer, dreamer and most important a true love. He was convincing in each one of them and his tapori accent was just awesome. Anushka Sharma, as Rossie, is very expressive and conveyed her every emotion very well. Kay Kay Menon, just like other films did a great job and must have gotten some more screen space. Being his first full fledged role, Karan Johar was good. Some of the scenes might make you feel that he is trying hard to be serious and not laugh. Talking about the other cast, they were a perfect fit for their role.

The movie has quite a few bloopers, you might miss some but few of them were strikingly visible. Jhonny in every box fight gets hit on his right side. In every fight, the other boxer tries to damage his face, but in a day all the marks of the wounds are gone. Wondering, if he has a magic spell for that. He actually killed someone with a culinary knife, is it like really possible? A famous Bollywood actress (its a surprise appearance, so I am not mentioning the name), is shown to be a jazz singer at a club in 1949 and in 1969 she is crooning at Bombay Velvet stage. The catch is that she has not changed even a percent in a span of 20 years, that is really WOW...!!

Having the female lead playing the role of a Jazz singer, the background scores of the film had to be in perfect. Anushka's lip syncing for every song is great, especially Fiji and Dhadaam Dhadaam.

All in all, Bombay Velvet is a one-time watch. Well, two things that viewers will surely enjoy is Ranbir-Anushka's chemistry and a perfect trip to Mumbai of 1950s and 1960s.

A tip, don't expect too much from the film.