Bombay Talkies

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.

'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.

Bombay talkies is a true ode to 100 years of Indian Cinema. It celebrates life, emotions, relations, dreams of an ordinary human being. It celebrates the true art form of cinema. It doesn't glorify stardom.

All 4 stories are diverse, dealing with different socio-economic strata with the basic theme being the impact of cinema on a common man's life.

Away from all 'dishum-dishum' emotional atyachar, senseless stories, it tells us how cinema should ideally be.

Karan Johar's part was really stunning. It was undoubtedly and unbelievably, his best movie as a director, better than those emotional craps like K2H2 and K3G. It talked about sexual orientation, hypocrisy in society and turnmoil in relationships. The songs 'Lag ja Gale' and Ajeeb Dastaan hai ye' were used metaphorically and blended very beautifully with the story. Dialogues were witty and had many meanings.

Dibakar Banarjee's part was a true 'art cinema'. Full of sarcasm and metaphors and hence difficult to understand, it was genuinely the best of all the four flicks. Faizal Khan ( Nawazuddin) is a true genius. He plays the character of a man struggling to find a job who is a talented actor leading a mediocre life in a chawl, for whom a smile on his daughter's face matters more than his dreams and money. The EMU in a chawl sarcastically portrays the character of the protagonist and also Nawazuddin himself as he hasn't got his due still while he actually deserves much more.

Zoya Akhtar's part talked about childhood dreams and fantasies. The child-actor really left me spellbound. The story was very genuine and it raised a very sensitive topic, which should be a matter of debate.

Anurag Kashyap is my favourite and I went to the movie just because of him. But he actually disappointed me. Not because the flick wasn't good, but because I had lots of expectations from him. Still, Anurag kashyap's worst was better than the Karan Johar's best! It essayed the madness and love of the protagonist who is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan and comes to the big city from Allahabad to deliver a piece of ' Murabba' .

Although each story looked simple, the plot and the characters were multilayered. Each story is open-ended and leaves a lot to think about after you leave cinema halls. It should be considered as a benchmark in the history of Indian cinema.

At the end, was a disgusting song trying to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema. Well I guess it ended up being a sarcastic take on the STARDOM ( read it "StarDUMB") culture prevailing in Indian cinema.

Its a high time to realize that cinema is a reflection of the life of ordinary 'Homo Sapiens' and should not be used to glorify larger than life image of some aliens like RajniKant, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan et al.

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

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