Anurag Kashyap is known for making critically acclaimed hard-hitting films with non-commercial faces, mostly newcomers and therein lies his success. Presenting his actors stylishly and bamboozling the audience with extravagant expensive sets has never been his thing. You have Sanjay Leela Bhansali to do that. Bombay Velvet as its trailer would suggest is Anurag's first attempt to go commercial in a big way with two commercial stars (Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma), big ticket studio (Fox) and an unconventional story. But the sum total of all this doesn't reflect well in the trailer which is uninspiring and uninteresting to say the least.
The movie is set in the 60s, an era that kickstarted an era of crime and underworld in real Bombay. Anurag's main man Ranbir plays a street fighter by the name of Johnny Balraj who falls for the charms of femme fatale Rosie (Anushka), a jazz dancer and every man's dream fantasy.
The prime focus of the trailer looks to be on establishing the look, style and the mannerisms of the characters. So on one hand, you see a greasy long disheveled hair sporting Ranbir packing a mean punch or two in a cage while on the other, you see the elegant side of him strutting his stuff in expensive suits. His lady love Anushka wears a grim expression right throughout even while locking lips with Ranbir. The biggest disappointment however emerges in the form of Karan Johar who walks and talks like Karan Johar (You get the drift, right?) Unless, Karan is playing himself, his effeminate mannerisms including the pout could have been done away with.
Bombay Velvet's biggest advantage lies in its stellar starcast. You will even see a snapshot of the talented Siddhartha Basu in the trailer. Also one can't help but notice how Ranbir's vengeance filled role and badass manner of mouthing dialogues immediately harks one back to an era in Bollywood where Amitabh was known for essaying such anti-hero roles. The gun firing sequence towards the end and the accompanying musical octave provide you the only biggest thrill in this otherwise average trailer.
But hey, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost and we are hoping that one would be a total ripper unlike the trailer.
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