बॉम्बे वेलवेट
- -Photos
Storyline
Details
Box Office
Company Credits
Technical Specs
When a young Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor) gets off a train and experiences Bombay for the first time, 1949 is when Bombay Velvet begins. Balraj is raised in ethically dubious conditions by his foster mother, who turns to prostitution as a means of subsistence. When Balraj is younger, he meets a pickpocket named Chiman (Satyadeep Misra) in the neighbourhood. As they get older, Balraj and Chiman start smuggling in order to survive. After seeing a great English film, Balraj has an obsession with becoming a “big-shot,” and this irrational desire of his is going to lead him far. In addition, he makes money by fighting in street battles, which he never prevails in.
Balraj and Chiman meet newspaper baron Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar) in an unforeseen turn of events. Balraj’s dreams are given wings by Kaizad, who also gives him the moniker Johnny.
A convoluted story of love, treachery, money, and double-crossing unfolds next.
Screenplay analysis:
Bombay Velvet presents a unique image of Bombay in the past, drawing inspiration from Gyan Prakash’s book Mumbai Fables. Even without the pictorials, the film’s plot—which revolves around newspaper editors ordering to “stop press” and blackmail over negatives of photographs—is enough to transport you to a bygone period. We are introduced to Balraj and Rosie’s backstory in the first half of the film, which comes off as being really strong and coherent. The love story is tightly written, and we don’t often see love affair writing like this. There aren’t many overtly humorous scenes in the movie, but there are some subtle allusions to Karan Johar’s sexual orientation that will make you wince, particularly when he refers to Balraj as Johnny and adds, “Rosie mein aisa kya hai jo mere paas nahi.” While the writers seem to be going crazy with Balraj’s character, Rosie’s character is really pitiful because she is frequently around domineering males who expect her to comply with their expectations. Although the first half seems long, it is the most important for all the characters. However, the second part becomes overly cinematic. There aren’t many strong lines in the discourse, therefore you might only remember a handful of them.
Plot:
Street fighter and boxer Balraj falls in love with jazz vocalist Rosie in 1969 Bombay. His desire to become a “big-shot” is further sparked by witnessing Rosie with wealthy men. He thinks that if he succeeds in becoming wealthy, he would be able to capture Rosie’s heart. Then, Balraj and his friend Chimman attract the attention of wealthy businessman Kaizad Khambatta. Impressed by Balraj, Khambatta offers him the opportunity to run his club, “Bombay Velvet,” which he exploits to promote his illicit activities. Balraj is also given the nickname “Johnny” by him, which thereafter serves as his identity.
In addition, Johnny and Chimman complete small jobs for Khambatta, such as taking a shady picture of a minister that Khambatta want to use as ransom. Jimmy Mistri, a media reporter, learns of this; he is also the same rich man whom Johnny had previously seen Rosie with.
Recalling that Johnny harbors romantic feelings for Rosie, Mistri capitalizes on this and sent Rosie to Johnny’s club to obtain the minister’s photo. But ultimately, Johnny and Rosie fall in love, and Mistri threatens to tell Johnny who Rosie really is.
As a result, Rosie starts telling Mistri about what Johnny and Khambatta are up to. Following the leak of a picture showing a top-level meeting with Bombay’s influential people, Khambatta surmises that Rosie was the source of the information and gives the order to have her assassinated. When Johnny learns of this, he becomes hostile with Khambatta, the man who introduced him to the world of crime.
Rosie is forced to pretend to be Rita, her deceased twin sister, by Johnny, who stages her death. However, Khambatta quickly learns the truth, kidnaps Rosie, and attempts to murder Johnny. As a result, they are engaged in combat at Bombay Velvet. To agitate Johnny, Khambatta shoots Rosie. Enraged by this, Johnny stabs Khambatta and gets shot dead outside the club while attempting to bring Rosie to the hospital. Before the closing credits, it is shown that Rosie lived through her gunshot wound.