The last movie that Ranbir Kapoor succeeded with was Yeh Jawani Yeh Diwani. Three duds have followed that, including his latest release, Bombay Velvet. He immerses himself totally into Johnny Balraj's character, nonetheless, but it feels unworthy.
Every director may feel that their movie is their baby but this was too much hype and hoopla over nothingness. It seems heavily influenced by Martin Scorsese school of cinema. And a shooting sequence from Godfather. Some Scarface. Ugly was the last noteworthy film from Anurag Kashyap. Seems he was too overwhelmed by the funds from Fox Studios. Such an amount of money would have been better spent on the awesomeness of Gangs of Wasseypur. This one is too starry. It is missing a Tigmanshu Dhulia. A Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Or for that matter a solid script.
Bombay Velvet - neither silky nor velvety.
Amit Trivedi's music is sincere. So is Ranbir's effort. And Anushka Sharma's. Not to forget the art director's. The Nariman Point backdrop and the newspaper cuttings seem totally authentic. One can see the amount of effort that has gone into the locales that were heavily recreated in Sri Lanka. Now, if only half that effort had gone into the storyline!
The most noteworthy thing in the movie, to me, was a female voice in the first twenty minutes or so, humming just a couple of lines. It was either Portuguese or English - certainly not Hindi - if I remember right. It was a voice to die for.
Karan Johar has acted earlier. It appears like a faux pas at the very beginning, perhaps sounding one off on what was in store. Atleast the opening credits could have said, Introducing "Karan Johar, in his first full-fledged role" or something to that effect.
Siddhartha Basu is better off producing KBC and being a quiz-master. He was terrible as far as the dialogue delivery and his performance was concerned.
Satyadeep Misra plays his character very convincingly and one wished he had more to offer from the script, as he sadly just ends up being a sidekick.
Kay Kay Menon: I think he is slowly turning into the Iftekhar of today. He should stop getting himself stereotyped as one sees him wasting his talent playing a cop in almost every movie that he is in these days. He was decent, though, almost until the director would have called, "Cut!", in the climax, where he gives an expression that is totally artificial. Which might have gone unnoticed if the movie were a little better, since the audiences were clenching their fists, much like the Japanese boxer, wanting to put Anurag Kashyap in the same ring and have a bout with him, for the two-and-a-half hour drag.
Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor are sincere and honest, much like their love for one another in the film, but that is not enough to save the movie. Too many holes in the plot. A roly-poly gun toting police commissioner who speaks very less and just lets his smirks and gun do the talking in the end was totally uncalled for, and things could have been a little more logical, or imaginative! Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi won Wisden Cricketer Of The Year in 1968 but the movie conveniently changes it to a year later, showing that he won it, instead, in 1969.
Manish Chaudhary's character Jimmy Mistry reminded me of Stanley Tucci. Did anyone else feel that his character simply vanishes, all of a sudden?!
The intentions may have been good. The director probably meant it to be a tribute to Mumbai that has given him so much. And Lorna Cordeiro, the popular nightclub Jazz singer from back then that he dedicates the film to. But throw in a love-story and too many characters into this cauldron, and the dish gets spoilt. Stale. Yawn!! Jimmy Mistry's shoes could have probably been filled by a bigger actor or star. Karan Johar was doing his part pretty well and there was quite some potential for the rivalry to have been more intense between Mistry and Khambata. Had the director focused more on that instead of a boring love-story that had nothing new to offer, Bombay Velvet's premise may had seen a more fruitful result. One that would have done Martin Scorsese proud...
Every director may feel that their movie is their baby but this was too much hype and hoopla over nothingness. It seems heavily influenced by Martin Scorsese school of cinema. And a shooting sequence from Godfather. Some Scarface. Ugly was the last noteworthy film from Anurag Kashyap. Seems he was too overwhelmed by the funds from Fox Studios. Such an amount of money would have been better spent on the awesomeness of Gangs of Wasseypur. This one is too starry. It is missing a Tigmanshu Dhulia. A Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Or for that matter a solid script.
Bombay Velvet - neither silky nor velvety.
Amit Trivedi's music is sincere. So is Ranbir's effort. And Anushka Sharma's. Not to forget the art director's. The Nariman Point backdrop and the newspaper cuttings seem totally authentic. One can see the amount of effort that has gone into the locales that were heavily recreated in Sri Lanka. Now, if only half that effort had gone into the storyline!
The most noteworthy thing in the movie, to me, was a female voice in the first twenty minutes or so, humming just a couple of lines. It was either Portuguese or English - certainly not Hindi - if I remember right. It was a voice to die for.
Karan Johar has acted earlier. It appears like a faux pas at the very beginning, perhaps sounding one off on what was in store. Atleast the opening credits could have said, Introducing "Karan Johar, in his first full-fledged role" or something to that effect.
Siddhartha Basu is better off producing KBC and being a quiz-master. He was terrible as far as the dialogue delivery and his performance was concerned.
Satyadeep Misra plays his character very convincingly and one wished he had more to offer from the script, as he sadly just ends up being a sidekick.
Kay Kay Menon: I think he is slowly turning into the Iftekhar of today. He should stop getting himself stereotyped as one sees him wasting his talent playing a cop in almost every movie that he is in these days. He was decent, though, almost until the director would have called, "Cut!", in the climax, where he gives an expression that is totally artificial. Which might have gone unnoticed if the movie were a little better, since the audiences were clenching their fists, much like the Japanese boxer, wanting to put Anurag Kashyap in the same ring and have a bout with him, for the two-and-a-half hour drag.
Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor are sincere and honest, much like their love for one another in the film, but that is not enough to save the movie. Too many holes in the plot. A roly-poly gun toting police commissioner who speaks very less and just lets his smirks and gun do the talking in the end was totally uncalled for, and things could have been a little more logical, or imaginative! Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi won Wisden Cricketer Of The Year in 1968 but the movie conveniently changes it to a year later, showing that he won it, instead, in 1969.
Manish Chaudhary's character Jimmy Mistry reminded me of Stanley Tucci. Did anyone else feel that his character simply vanishes, all of a sudden?!
The intentions may have been good. The director probably meant it to be a tribute to Mumbai that has given him so much. And Lorna Cordeiro, the popular nightclub Jazz singer from back then that he dedicates the film to. But throw in a love-story and too many characters into this cauldron, and the dish gets spoilt. Stale. Yawn!! Jimmy Mistry's shoes could have probably been filled by a bigger actor or star. Karan Johar was doing his part pretty well and there was quite some potential for the rivalry to have been more intense between Mistry and Khambata. Had the director focused more on that instead of a boring love-story that had nothing new to offer, Bombay Velvet's premise may had seen a more fruitful result. One that would have done Martin Scorsese proud...
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