Much of the film dazzles, but I found myself longing for some soul.

Lookswise, the film is pure gorgeousness. Trouble is, it is also largely overwrought and inert. The meticulous detailing in the re-creation of one of the most pulsating periods of Bombay’s history, is terrific. Much of the film stays, mostly and disappointingly, on its sumptuous surface.

Bombay Velvet is an obviously shallow film, an all-out retro masala-movie with homage on the rocks and cocktail-shakers brimming with cliche…

There is almost too much plot, and yet it isn’t gripping. Key plot points pop up and then randomly disappear. The climactic sequence has power and poetry, but it feels like too little too late. Bombay Velvet had the potential to be the definitive Mumbai noir. But the centre does not hold.

The visual grandeur and scale aside, Bombay Velvet fails to live up to its ambition. Don’t even try to search for sharp dialogues and Kashyap’s trademark wicked humour. That’s probably reserved for his indie ventures only.

Bombay Velvet is too bloodless to stun, too passionless to stir…paints a pretty postcard but not the soul of its decade.

Bombay Velvet spends too much time on period details and loses focus…is marred by weak storytelling

What you leave the hall with is a sense of disappointment. Bombay Velvet has neither the softness of velvet nor the sweep of the city it is an ode to.

Unlike its pugilist protagonist, the film punches well below its weight.

Bombay Velvet will go down in history as the film that had everything going for it – the actors, the budget, the scale and the promotion. And still somehow got derailed.

If you are someone who wears velvet everyday, watch it.

Bombay Velvet tries to be a classic fable. It would have been, if Kashyap had focussed on writing his film as he does on set design. Pardon the cliche, but that is the film’s epic flaw.

Kashyap’s foray into mainstream is ambitious in its scale but flawed in its execution.

If you want to watch Bombay in its pristine glory of the past, BOMBAY VELVET is a must watch. However, if content is what you are looking for, stay away!

It’s a Phantom let down!

Regrettably the film turns out to be a way short of what is expected of Anurag Kashyap. At its best Bombay Velvet is a superficial, average attempt at an entertainer.

For a moment if you disregard this pic’s massive budget, it does not even count as director Anurag Kashyap’s most ambitious work. The inter-generational saga Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) was—both in its scope and scale. A strong voice-narration (often perceived as lazy writing) wonderfully helped piece together that 320-minute film. There is none of it here. It probably looks messy as a result. God knows it’s tough to keep it simple.

Even if you are an ardent Anurag fan and are expecting another Gangs of Wasseypur, better give it a miss instead of getting monumentally disappointed. However, if you have nothing else to do this weekend and want to have a feeling of how Bombay…sorry Mumbai looked like in the ‘60s, it’s worth taking that risk.

Had this universe existed in a film not directed by Kashyap, I suspect it would have been appreciated more. But his voice precedes him, for he represents a fearless brand of Indian cinema. In this context, Bombay Velvet is a moderate Hollywood imitation; significant for the craft it brings on screen, but little more than an excessive footnote in a universal genre. I’d rather revisit On The Waterfront or Goodfellas instead.

Bombay Velvet is beautifully shot, beautifully acted, beautifully edited but remained beautifully boring!! Watch it if you are a Ranbir-Anushka fan.

The film is clichéd and a done to death love story laced with an over ambitious protagonist.
It’s like one of those beauties who you see at high society parties but once you hear them talk, you feel like “What the F….”
Watch it for the experience and the performances.