Bombay Talkies

Director Dibakar Banerjee is keener in establishing the little world his characters, both major and minor, inhabit. You are far more enthusiastic and involved with these people because Banerjee knits together the entire fabric of his creation rather than simply weaving the design; he allows his camera to capture the sight, the sound and the essence of his world and you are respond and reciprocate it to it more than you would to works by other directors. He is one of the best new Indian directors I have seen whose films have gotten far less credit than they deserve. Everyone talks about Karan Johar's or Anurag Kashyap's involvement and only a few (which includes me) may've gone for Bombay Talkies to watch out for Dibakar Banerjee. His segment is called Star and it comes right after Johar's opening segment; Banerjee's work simply blows the other segments out of water, and only Kashyap's Murabba is able to escape uninjured. But poor Zoya Akhtar's segment Sheila Ki Jawaani isn't very lucky, barely holding up to the standards of Banerjee's work. And Johar's hokey gay-themed segment seems flaccid in comparison.

I don't mean by saying all this that you should skip the other segments and only catch Banerjee's; Bombay Talkies is a far better offering than most other Indian movies you might catch in theaters. It's got a limited release and has managed to rake in mediocre box-office collections, but it surely deserves to be recognized for being novel not just for the sake of being novel. Four different directors with quite different styles and palettes put up their works for an anthology film and you as an audience member have a lot more to discuss here than just the quality of the film itself: you compare these filmmakers' works and form your own preferences. I loved Banerjee's work but I hear many other praising Karan Johar more, but you see what's happening here is that everyone's talking a lot more about the film than they usually would. For this alone people should catch Bombay Talkies before it exits theaters with its final salute to Bollywood.

Bombay Talkies, named after a prestigious movie studio of the same name which opened in the 30s and has closed down now, is a cinematic ode to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Bollywood. This ode is sung by four directors: 1) Karan Johar, known for his epic-length melodramas with names usually beginning with letter 'K', 2) Dibakar Banerjee, a superbly talented director whose works evoke the multiplicities seen in Neorealist films 3) Zoya Akhtar, who has won a couple of awards in India and comes from a family of talented actors, musicians and lyricists and 4) Anurag Kashyap, whose works have been screened at Cannes. While Johar and Akhtar share this style of directing that many of the filmmakers who've been brought up in this industry from the start possess, Kashyap and Banerjee inject the flavor of world cinema into commercial Bollywood.

Johar begins first, his film being about Avinash, a lonely gay man estranged from his family who meets a lonely married straight woman whose sex life (with her husband, of course. Infidelity not usually tackled in Indian films) is sterile. There's the husband who is dull and lonely (and completely not aroused by his wife) and loves old Hindi songs, and things get complicated when Avinash meets the husband and his gay sensor tingles. You perfectly know what's going to happen next. Once Johar's done, its Banerjee's turn: his film is about a lower-middle class Maharashtrian (Nawazuddin Siddique, awards coming your way) whose many little ambitions, which includes breeding Emus, have never taken flight until the moment he gets the golden opportunity to share the screen space with megastar Ranbir Kapoor one day. If Banerjee makes us hate the theater owners for keeping an interval for the film, Zoya Akhtar's segment post-intermission about a little kid who hates football and likes dressing up like a girl and who idolizes actress Katrina Kaif makes us hate the film's editor for not including more of Dibakar's story. The final segment is a little queer and quirky, and it's by Kashyap; his film is about Vijay, an Allahabad native who, under his ailing father's insistence, travels to Bombay to offer the King of Bollywood half of a Murabba, a jam pickle, so that the other half, once blessed with Bachchan's uhm…teeth could be consumed by Vijay's father to get well.

Johar's segment is simple are quite predictable; you are well aware what's going to happen and because it's a Johar film, you know there'll be a lot of tears shed by the characters. Apart from its hokey and hackneyed theme, I really wasn't sure whether it portrayed gays in a flattering light. Akhtar on the other hand makes a film full of annoyingly precocious children and one-dimensional characters, especially the kid's father who keeps repeating 'Football is a guy's game. Football will make you strong'. Anurag Kashyap's 'Murabba' is delicious and delightful, but not anywhere close to the richness of Banerjee's offering. There's so much to enjoy, so many little things that we watch happening in Banerjee's film, and he's a pro when it comes to handling his camera and sound. There's a common theme of father-son relationship running in all four shorts.

There's a music video after the shorts which celebrates the hundred years of Bollywood, and they've added a montage that shows Bollywood through the period. Towards the end, stars like Aamir Khan turn up but I was sadly disappointed by the presence of some actors like Sonam Kapoor here, which shows just how retarded Bollywood has become. Why couldn't they let Nawazuddin sing? Or Kalki Koechlin? When your entire film is about celebrating the true stars, why ruin the moment by bringing in the hundred crore club whose films are strapped on stars and short on sense?

A conglomerate of four individually directed stories rolled into one , Bombay Talkies exhibits a sharp deviation from the typical mainstream and commercial Bollywood of today.

Getting into the very first one , a 25 minute unusually bold attempt on homosexuality and the subsequent tantrums that follow, is undoubtedly and ironically enough , Karan Johar's best individual direction till date. A 8.5/10 for me.

The second one was an absolute stunner of a direction from Dibakar Banerjee with its very poignancy being augmented by an impeccably brilliant acting from one man Nawazuddin Siddiqui at his versatile best. A straight 9.5/10 for me, if not more.

The reel rolls onto the next half and here we have the third and what we have is a brave, mature, rich-in-content subject with a diluted direction from Zoya Akhtar. With the kind of subject it was, Zoya Akhtar could have made it look equipotent but no, it was not to be. Some unnecessary bits did actually mar the value of the subject. Expected more from an otherwise good direction from Zoya. This one bags a 7.5/10 for me.

Just when you have got that feeling that it was gradually loosing out on the steam, the mastery of Anurag Kashyap storms in with another piece of mind blowing story ,the fourth one in the slot. A typical Kashyap showdown with a subtle flavor of tragedy molded in, the last few minutes of this one as well as the whole movie, sparked a standing ovation from the audience in the end. A terrific acting from Vineet Kumar like his Wasseypur brother Nawazuddin earlier, marked the very essence of the story, only if you are not too critical about mentioning the charismatic presence of Amitabh Bacchan. A rating of 9.5/10 will somewhat, still seem a tad bit less for this piece of story.

And after "THE END" was shown, when actually it was not, and just when you feel you have had enough for the ticket you paid, you gotta sit back, only to see that Bollywood being revisited from the vintage past and present alike to mark its 100 years. On a confessing note, it was still not required and even if it was it should have been précised out to clamp on to the mood the movie had set. Some unnecessary sparkle-in-the-light stuff did partly dampen the mood in the end.

This rating is only for the last part... Anurag kashyap.

'Bombay Talkies' celebrates Indian Cinema, which turned 100 this year. Its a celebration of films & its influence in the world.

An Anthology film consisting of four short films, directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar & Karan Johar, 'Bombay Talkies' entertains & pays tribute to magic of the Silver-Screen.

Karan Johar's Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh tells the story of a condemned homosexual boy who exposes his friend's husband's sexuality to her, only to end her turbulent marriage. Johar delivers a heartbreakingly emotional story of frustration & love. He directs it unabashedly & the performances by Rani Mukerji, Randeep Hooda & Saqib Saleem, are remarkable.

Dibakar Banerjee's 'Star', an adaptation of Satyajit Ray's short story "Patol Babu, Film Star", tells the story of a failed actor who gets the opportunity to act as junior artist, thus living his life-long dream. Banerjee executes this sensitive story with tenderness & care. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is terrific in the lead-role, while Sadashiv Amrapurkar is delightful.

Zoya Akhar's Sheila Ki Jawaani tells the story of a little boy who dreams to become a dancer after he sees Katrina Kaif sizzling on the big-screen. Akhtar's Direction is perfect, but the Writing is loose. It doesn't register the impact one expects from it. However, the performances by Naman Jain & Ranvir Shorey are credible.

Anurag Kashyap's Murabba celebrates the euphoria of Amitabh Bachchan. A dying father asks his son to travel to the city of dreams just to let the film-legend have a bite of a home-made Murabba. Kashyap's treatment is highly entertaining. Vineet Kumar Singh delivers a natural performance, but its Sudhir Pandey who is simply astonishing. Bachchan himself makes a flattering appearance in this story.

On the whole, 'Bombay Talkies' may not be perfect, but its an experience worth watching.

What a wonderful act is that four talented directors come together with some of the great new-age actors to create an amalgamated cinema worth watching. But, is it the much-needed ode to Bollywood? Hands down, No!

Karan Johar starts off with a very bold story having marvelous performances by the lead actors. Great direction, dialogues & the elemental conviction is absolutely fantastic. The conclusion troubled me maybe due to incompletion but that's expected. And yes, it immortalizes homosexuality, 50 Shades of Grey & sex. 7.2/10!

Dibakar Banerjee teams up with the Siddiqui but fails to evince character depth & the real matter. Although, the emotive stance is appreciable, the momentum which is required to stand up in a movie of so much importance is low. Sadashiv Amrapurkar was good. 5.7/10!

Zoya Akhtar brings sweetness to the anthology with brilliant acting by child artistes. Although, the climax is a bit stale & illogical (so much crowd attraction for 2 kids), I liked the love, bonding, chasing-the- dream thingy & iotic traces of child-abuse involved in it. 6.3/10!

Anurag Kashyap's is the cynosure with a story so sharp & related (to native India), it makes a great ending story worth watching. Amitabh Bachchan's presence, the placebo effect-story, palpable plot & the lead character's expressions make it the best short. Great music. Splendid. 8.5/10!

Overall, a good show put up by the thespians & succeeds in marking a new wave of cinema making, but I really think all work was done hastily with the stories requiring little polishing & improvisation. Could have been better!

BOTTOM LINE: A good movie & can be considered one of 2013's few best! Recommended!

MESSAGE: Respect the LGBT community & understand that relationships is more than physical; make a person happy everyday; follow you dream surreptitiously; be with your parents when they need you & make their wish true.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: Mild | Sex: Strong (No visuals) | Nudity: No | Violence: Strong | Gore: Very Mild | Alcohol: Mild | Smoking: No | Drugs: No