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Actor Ranbir Kapoor is often celebrated for films like Rockstar, Barfi!, and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, among others. Yet one movie that rarely gets mentioned in the list is his 2015 crime thriller Bombay Velvet. On the actor’s birthday today, I chose to revisit and dissect Anurag Kashyap’s ambitious directorial. In hindsight, it feels more like a misunderstood experiment that deserved a kinder reception.
The sooner you break the bubble of expectations, the better. Bombay Velvet was not a bad film, it was simply mis-sold. After the massive success of Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), audiences expected another gritty crime drama with the same mass appeal. Instead, the Ranbir Kapoor starrer unfolded as a slow burn, layered with jazz influences and parallel poetic themes. Drawing inspiration from pulp gangster comics of the 1970s and ’80s, the film took a different creative route. While overlooked at the time of its release, many of its artistic elements have since been appreciated.
Watching Ranbir Kapoor in Bombay Velvet should have evoked the same emotions as his other vulnerable performances, such as Ved in Tamasha or Jordan in Rockstar. His nuanced, layered approach to character was undervalued by the audience. As Johnny Balraj, the most nakedly broken man he has played on screen, Ranbir delivered a commendable performance.
Remember the moment he first walked into Rosie’s dressing room? The way he stared at her, stammering with a mix of love and desire. In that instant, the actor laid himself bare, willing to be vulnerable, to take risks, and to embody insecurity, even if it meant presenting a hero who appeared weak on the big screen.
During an interview with Galatta Plus earlier, Anurag Kashyap opened up about the film’s failure and how it led to self-doubt in Ranbir Kapoor. “The film should have been made the way it was researched. But I did it the way it was budgeted. I also bought into all the bullshit that everybody threw at me. They told me, ‘When you can make such an amazing film with nobody in it, imagine what would happen if we get stars and big money?’ And we also saw what happened.”
He added, “Ranbir Kapoor commits a lot and that’s the one thing I feel responsible for because he has stopped experimenting. After that, he was unsure for a time period. But his commitment is amazing.”
Bombay Velvet was filled with sequences that spoke volumes but were overlooked by audiences at the time. Revisiting these moments today brings a noticeable shift in perspective. Take, for instance, the boxing scene where Johnny steps into the ring, a clear echo of Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. The way Ranbir, battered and bruised, carried the role with restrained fury was, for me, a major highlight.
Another scene etched in my memory is Rosie’s performance of “Dhadaam Dhadaam” while Johnny watches her from afar. The heartache in her eyes made it clear that their love was doomed. The haunting lyrics and orchestration didn’t offer relief but instead heightened the sense of collapse, deepening the tragedy of their story.
Bombay Velvet was criticized for its supposed “lack of originality,” but I felt quite the opposite. What truly happened was that the audience never connected with its artistic approach or influences. Drawing inspiration from Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and even Hollywood musicals, Anurag Kashyap attempted to craft his own cinematic universe, one that was ahead of its time. The film translated Western idioms into an Indian context, a choice that was largely rejected in 2015. Yet if a film like this were made for Indian audiences in 2025, its fate might take a complete turn.
ALSO READ | 10 years of Bombay Velvet: Anurag Kashyap’s messy love letter to cinema that was never understood
Not to forget, the true essence of Bombay Velvet lay not in Johnny or Rosie, but in the city itself. At its core, the real protagonist was 1960s Bombay, captured through its colonial architecture, smoky clubs, half-built skyscrapers, shadowy streets, and countless other shades of urban life. Anurag Kashyap treated the city as a character in its own right, much like how Sanjay Leela Bhansali later portrayed Kamathipura in Gangubai Kathiawadi.
I am not saying that Bombay Velvet was a polished masterpiece and Anurag Kashyap’s best work, but what I am trying to deliver is that perhaps, it does deserve a second chance. The audiences might go to the theatres in today’s time and day, and rewatch the film with a fresh perspective!
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