Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- stylized
- romantic
- decadent
- late night viewing
- bollywood crime marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the film’s performances, period detailing, music, and visual ambition while finding its script and direction incoherent and underwhelming.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film foregrounds the transformation of Bombay through meticulously designed jazz clubs, streets, costumes, and interiors.
Johnny Balraj begins as an ordinary boxer and deliberately constructs a gangster identity to become a powerful figure.
Johnny's ascent through organized crime is intertwined with his passionate relationship with jazz singer Rosie.
Jazz clubs provide the film's defining social spaces and connect Rosie's performance career to the criminal economy.
Films like Bombay Velvet, and why
Gangs of Wasseypur
shared neo-noir atmosphere, gangster ambition, organized crime, and morally compromised rise to power
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
shared period crime drama, underworld politics, urban transformation, and tragic ambition
Chicago
shared jazz-inflected noir style, criminal underworld, doomed romance, and heightened visual design
Miller's Crossing
shared gangster melodrama, doomed love story, and stylized rise-and-fall narrative
Movie Details
- Director
- Anurag Kashyap
- Release Date
- 2015-05-15
- Runtime
- 151 min
- Rating
- 5.4 / 10 (47)
Cast
- Ranbir Kapoor
- Anushka Sharma
- Karan Johar
- Kay Kay Menon
- Satyadeep Misra
- Manish Chaudhary
- Vivaan Shah
- Siddhartha Basu
- Remo Fernandes
- Raveena Tandon
Common questions
- What is Bombay Velvet about?
- A hungry boxer climbs Bombay’s criminal ladder while love, jazz, and urban ambition collide in a lavish period neo-noir.
- What is Bombay Velvet like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Bombay Velvet as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Bombay Velvet violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Bombay Velvet as brutal.
- What did critics think of Bombay Velvet?
- Critics broadly admired the film’s performances, period detailing, music, and visual ambition while finding its script and direction incoherent and underwhelming.
- Which films are like Bombay Velvet?
- Films with a similar feel include Gangs of Wasseypur, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, Chicago, and Miller's Crossing.
- How long is Bombay Velvet?
- Bombay Velvet runs 151 minutes.
