La rosa de Bombay

Such beautiful and eloquent reviews have already come out for Gitanjali Rao's Bombay Rose. So initially I thought I will just enjoy my experience of it and not write anything. But it's been a while now and I am haunted by it - I have to write. So here are a few feelings that remain with me. Not as a way of critique or review; but a connected stream of thoughts Bombay Rose takes me through.

My first thought is about flowers. Not just in its name - Bombay Rose has an overwhelming presence of flowers throughout the film - baskets of flowers of different colours and shapes, markets of flowers where older women gently weave friendships with younger ones, graveyards where the bereaved leave flowers for their lost loves, and roadsides where flowers wait for their customers amidst traffic. There are shirts where flowers are hidden and buns where they are worn. Flowers are woven, strewn, weighed, handed over, bought, sold and stolen. Our two protagonists are both flower sellers - they fall in love over giving and receiving flowers too. For me flowers have always had a very strong association with the lightness with which I want to hold life. Flowers have also meant the ultimate resistance for me. As if just in being their delicate yet resilient selves they defy everything the harsh world of reality wants us to succumb to - fear, falsehood, fate. Flowers offer the possibility that reality is overrated and only when the lines of what we experience in the outer world is connected with what we imagine in our inner worlds of fantasy, that we become whole. Flowers also see death as a natural end without much fuss. I have often felt that that if it was not for flowers probably it would have been difficult for humanity to keep alive hope. In my dreams often I return as a blind flower seller as invading armies siege my city. In Bombay Rose, flowers become what people struggle to be in this city sieged by dreams and death - a wisp of the eternal - like love.

My second thought moves to the past that embraces the film dearly weaving itself into the everyday, refusing to let go. One experiences the by-gones not just in the way the roads, people, signboards and transport change in the nighbourhoods, but also in the revelry at night in the graveyard - of those who have crossed over to the other side. In Bangla 'bhoot' means both past and ghosts. In the film there are toys which no one can repair anymore, and antiques that no one will buy. There are old people who reminisce about their secret love lives listening to old records and those in wheelchairs for whom walking is only present in their memories. It is comforting how the present does not shun the past but grows out of it holding its hand for support. There is sense that the world is shared by not just us in the present, but there are those too remaining from other times. Also there are others - the elderly, the disabled, children, workers, bar dancers and people from various communities and religions who share the screen and the city as a true image of what this country is, and must remain.

Talking about sharing our present, my third thought moves to the animals and birds in Bombay Rose. I have not seen another film recently where so many animals and birds share an almost equal space with the humans and claim the city as their own. There are cats that are saved and those that are saviours, there are dogs rolling about in the sun, there are pigeons who wait by the roadside, and bees bustling around in rose gardens. There is an evil predator - the only one who turns into a villain in human form -from time to time. The animals have their own universe and agency, dealing with humans only when they have to. Their presence keeps the world grounded. And in addition there is also a mythical creature the Buraq - a horse like animal with wings and a woman's head. This leads me to my fourth thought about Bombay Rose.

Buraq - the lightning, the shimmer, the bright - legends say, has carried the Prophet to the seven heavens. In Bombay Rose it flies across the film carrying desires homewards for Salim whose Kashmir is locked in the darkness of his dreams. Every time the present, the real, clams down on Salim, the Buraq is invoked to leap from this into other impossible worlds where he can meet his parents, cross borders into other lands. It appears like water for the thirsty in a desert, like a promise fulfilled for the forgotten, like hope beyond every despair. The Buraq is also engraved in the wooden box where Salim keeps the gajras that Kamala weaves for him with bursting white mogras and a tinge of his rose, and his amulet. The box that stays with Kamala, after. For me Bombay Rose the film itself is my Buraq, my ride to other possible worlds I can imagine to be, and work towards building.

Watch Bombay Rose - it is on Netflix. It is such a stunning piece of work in every way. I especially loved the music and its colours.

This is such a beautiful piece of art, loved it . It took me to s dream world. The locations are created from actual Mumbai city and the best part was even minute details of the scenes were taken care of. The Goan song was beautiful.

The art style is gorgeous and the direction is very good.

[P. S ART AND ANIMATION AREN'T THE SAME THING. JUST BECAUSE A MUSEUM PAINTING IS BEAUTIFUL DOESN'T MEAN IT'LL MAGICALLY BE APPEALING WHEN ANIMATED. ANIMATION IS A SEPARATE SKILL WITH IT'S OWN PERKS]

However, the animation, pacing and plot have serious issues. There seems to be no hook in the story- even if the animation is used really creatively, the story is so bland it makes it feel like a hard to relate art film. The animation (Unlike what most seem to say about this film) is the biggest drawback. The art is good; however, the movement and the way that the world is brought to life is missing. The movie is hard to watch without fluid animation. I hate the character models as they used too much smudge tool or something- It looks cheap and it gives a dull colour. Unlike the characters, the art in the background has so much colour and vibrancy because they have little unnecessary smudge. Even though there's a lot of movement in the background, it feels very unnatural. The animation lands right in the uncanny valley- it's not to static like a photo but it's not as fluid as live action. There are minor issues with proportion. However, the transitions flow nicely, as aforementioned the movie is well directed.

Coming to the pacing, the movie has the same energy as a boring Saturday afternoon. Generally, good movies tend to balance out the relaxed pace with more action or suspense. However, this movie never gets to the point in the beginning, so it automatically becomes a niche watch. The story isn't bad (Despite what some people believe); however, the pacing is atrocious, absolutely abhorrent and a ginormous pain. I couldn't watch the whole thing- it feels too much like an academic film. There's no gripping sequences, and the few that are there are too anti-climactic- the film whole relies on the awe factor of the art. There is no point of having the best art if the animation is going to drag it to hell.

The characters were decent. Since the film takes so much time showering you with the characters, the audience should take a liking to them. Still, the character struggle of the "hero" is pretty well-defined. Though, I didn't religiously watch the film because it was so boring. It's nice telling realistic stories but it's a movie- so even if there are dream sequences, the plot is still so boring.

In conclusion, there is flesh and organs to this movie. Though the bones and blood are not present. The art and story are decent. Though the animation and pacing are worse than Chhota Bheem, I can sit through 3 hours of Chhota Bheem because it has decent pacing and (debatable) animation. However, this movie is so lacking these essential elements. That's why a 3 on 10 is the best rating I'd award this film. If this film was redone in a better way then I'd probably give it an 8 on 10. However, a body with no bones doesn't move. So, this movie shall stay unmoving and boring.

I don't understand why bollywood artist are obsessed with spoiling a story with their ideologies. This could have been a beautiful visual nostalgic take on Mumbai, but script writer spoiled in by bringing in unnecessary primitive Hindi - Muslim angle and vilifying a particular Hindu character to give contrast to the Muslim protagonist. In the end it looked like a child's attempt to look and sound mature.

The Best thing of this film is that it is fully an Indian film in every aspect. It's designed beautifully by Gitanjali Rao. This movie gave me a nostalgic feeling. Because the animation used here is very similar to 'Krish Trish and Baltiboy' that I used to watch everyday in childhood. Every character is written very well. I fall in love with the character of TARA. The movie touched many social elements like poverty, child labour and also Kashmir issue.

One word that can describe this film is - BEAUTIFUL.

Available On Netflix.

© MandalBros.