Bombay

It is hard to make a good movie despite having a good story. For there are chances of making mistakes in the script or cinematography or music or direction.But Maniratnam has made a movie with no mistakes to find in it! Real magic! He did not make it that perfect even in'Thalapathi' or 'Roja' or even 'Nayagan'. Suitable music ,neat portrayal, nice story and over all a great movie!A perfect 10 to say.This deserved to win a national award, though it was not given. But still,it is the bestTamilfilm i had ever seen.Also it should have been a very big hit for its good content. A must see for all. The best from Maniratnam.I had watched it 5 times.

This is a film about the ethnic divide in India set during the 1994 Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai (Bombay).

The direction is slick, the script excellent and the songs brilliant. You will not often find an Indian Commercial film which is entertaining and has a thoughtful message.

While the ending might be idealistic and slightly unrealistic, it gives us hope that one day we will set aside our differences. The message is also not rammed down our throat, so overall go and watch this movie!

First having heard the music and later having eyewitness information from the 1993 riots in Mumbai from my wife (who was in her early teens at the time), I sat and watched this movie in my home on what happened to be India's 60th Independence Day anniversary. I must admit I was stunned and baffled and all that, especially from the magnificent depiction of an impossible love story. The riot scenes in the second half of the film are also quite moving, but the end of the film lacks some of the momentum found elsewhere.

Nevertheless, this is a movie worth watching, especially in the company of Indians, since it contains a lot of symbolism hardly understandable to "us" foreigners.

Bombay (1995) :

Perhaps the Best work of Fiction depicting Hindu-Muslim 1993 Riots and it's Communal Harmony. Arvind Swami, Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman, the Classic Roja trio does it again with new sensational joining Manisha Koirala. Among all those films about Hindu-Muslim 1993 Riots i have seen, Bombay is perhaps the best work of Fiction included in real events. The topper of the list is none other than 'Black Friday' which was a non-fiction project. Bombay is a story of an eccentric couple, a Hindu man marries a muslim girl against the restrictions of guardians and settles in Bombay city. Later, the Babri Masjid incident make Bombay go frantic and riot between Hindus and Muslims takes over. The fictional characters of the film tries to make themselves look more genuine and communal friendly in the first half of the film. The love story, married life and birth of childrens almost wastes the first half and then Bombay truly goes on Riot mode in last 40 minutes. Mani Ratnam gets almost everything right from situations to consequences to human emotions to communal harmony and humanity emancipation. Bombay is more clever and cleaner film than his 'Roja', i don't have any complaints about the screenplay and structure as i had with Roja. AR Rahman goes on to deliver another quality music album besides the fact that Bombay lacks patriotic and harmony theme song. However, all the songs in the Film are fantastic. Choreography of the songs is unexpectedly brilliant. Every song uses the situations and moments correctly. Arvind Swami proves his metal again and Manisha Koirala shines equally despite a normal and sober character. Her presence in the climax scenes feels less and that's where I want to bash Mani Ratnam, not her because it's not her mistake. Rather than calling it a Classic I would say, Bombay is morever a Social Classic and far more important film than all other films of it's time. Mani Ratnam made this film exactly on time when it was needed despite the slight fear of the controversies it could have created. I can feel how people would have reacted and accepted Bombay in 1995 because many Indian citizens were still in shock of the consequences of riots. Dialogues will give you Goosebumps. Bombay doesn't really fall short of anything in its genre but if i really have to ask for something more which was missing then it's more Hard-hitting and Burning Climax. The film doesn't have any character of Saviour who should have at least tried to stop these things, it just goes on an goes on without anyone even trying to stop or restrict it. The other missing thing as i told you Heroine's presence in the last moments is too blur. As a Director Mani Ratnam has made a Powerful Social Film that might have brought change in some people's evil thinking for sure. I have seen his 5 films till date (Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Guru, Raavan) and Bombay is by Far his Best Film. This is not a Classic but little more than it.

RATING - 8.5/10*

By - #samthebestest

This is a truly beautiful film. The story is essentially this: a Hindu man and a Muslim woman from a small village in India fall in love and decide to marry. The villagers disapprove of this marriage to the point that they are ready to incite a riot. Given the circumstances, the man and woman elope to Mumbai (Bombay.)

Everything is okay there, and the two have twins, Kamal Bano and Kabir Narayan (the names are a mix of Hindu and Muslim, to represent their heritage.) The grandfathers (while still in the village) naturally argue with each other and vow to make the children Hindu (or Muslim, depends on who wins.) Suddenly, the 1993 riots erupt, and the whole family is caught in the middle. The twins are almost burned alive, but they survive thanks to police intervention. Both grandfathers show up in Bombay (out of concern for their children and grandchildren) and continue to compete there.

When another riot ensues, and the Hindu grandfather (and grandson) are approached by a group of Muslim men, the Muslim grandfather arrives in the nick of time and tells the men "He is my brother." Later in the film, one of the twins is separated from the other and is taken in for about a day by a member of the "hijda" community (this is a community in India that is essentially composed of eunuchs or hermaphrodites, but they wear women's clothing.) In a conversation with one of the twins, the "hijda" says "Religion is a way to God." The child asks him, "Then why are all of these people killing each other?" To this the man replies, "I have no idea. And I've been thinking about it for a long time."

You don't necessarily have to be Indian to appreciate this film, but I think it helps. The underlying message is that "We (as residents of India) should be Indians first and Hindu/Muslim/whatever second. The film also conveys the message of tolerance and humanity. It is really an excellent film.