'Bombay Velvet' review: It has great style but lacks emotional substance

Genre: Drama

Rating: *** 1/2

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar, Kay Kay Menon, Manish Chaudhary, Satyadeep Misra, Siddhartha Basu, Vivaan Shah

Direction: Anurag Kashyap

Duration: 2 hours 31 minutes

Language: Hindi (U/A)

It's 1969 in a Bombay of Prohibition but no inhibition, with money in the sea breeze, land sharks cutting deals and gangsters carving up competition. Ambitious Johnny Balraj (Ranbir), dreaming of becoming a big shot, is used by ruthless magnate Kaizaad Khambata (Karan) to fix business and settle scores. Johnny adores jazz singer Rosie (Anushka) and with buddy Chiman (Satyadeep), manages Kaizaad's ' Bombay Velvet' nightclub where Rosie performs. What happens when Rosie turns out to be a pawn of Jimmy Mistry (Manish), Khambata's foe? And when the mayor of Bombay (Siddhartha) decides Johnny's getting in his way?

Bombay Velvet is one of the most stylish-looking Hindi films, its glowing cinematography and sharp detailing presenting a heady, greedy city, full of nightmares and dreams. Its performances create an eye-catching vintage world—where Ranbir Kapoor smashes it as a Raj Kapoor-like Johnny Balraj. Ranbir's melting eyes and goofy grin stay with you, as do his supple moves—and suddenly steely jaw.

Anushka impresses as Rosie, her wide-eyed, brittle sadness evoking Audrey Hepburn, wandering through Breakfast at Tiffany's. Karan Johar is groovy good fun as wicked Khambata, giggling at Johnny's English, responding to a union leader quoting 'siddhant' with "Who's he?", asking Johnny deadpan, "Rosie mein aisa kya dekha jo mujhmein nahin?"

Kay Kay breezes through a cool cop cameo while Vivaan Shah's likeable as jolly chauffeur Tony. The drama's further enhanced by fabulous sound design, gorgeous jazz laced pulsatingly onto scenes of violence and love.

But Bombay Velvet has rough edges too. The film is so intensely stylized, it misses emotional pull. Certain sequences— like Johnny's prizefighting—feel stretched. At times, the editing simply races, without letting you feel anything, from Khambata's jeers to Rosie's tears, deeply enough.

The plot also wobbles between love story, crime saga, urban legend and corruption drama. Between lovers' fights, gunbattles and newspaper wars, you're thinking The Godfather, Casablanca, Chicago—but you want to feel Bombay Velvet more.

Its cinematography and performances, particularly Ranbir's edgy 'big shot', merit an extra half star. But while Bombay Velvet is stylish, this fabric could have been smoother.

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