"What
is
the
history
of
Bombay?
Why
don't
we
see
the
real
city
in
our
old
movies?" were
the
questions
that
troubled
Anurag
Kashyap
and
inspired
Bombay
Velvet,
a
cinematic
rewind
to
the
swinging
sixties.
"I
wanted
to
create
the
nostalgia,
the
era.
There
is
a
whole
history
behind
how
the
city
was
made.
You
find
that
world
online
but
don't
see
in
our
old
movies," Anurag
told.
"The
land
scams
today
have
their
root
in
Bombay
of
that
era.
There
was
smuggling
of
gold
and
silk
and
the
city
had
a
great
tabloid
culture.
British
hangover
was
still
there,
alcohol
was
banned,
there
was
bootlegging.
How
many
know
that
Mohammad
Rafi
was
a
great
jazz
singer
in
Konkani?."
Set
against
this
backdrop
of
glamour,
crime
and
deceit,
the
film
is
a
passionate
love
story,
starring
Ranbir
Kapoor
as
an
ambitious
street
fighter
and
Anushka
Sharma
as
a
jazz
singer.
Director
Karan
Johar
plays
the
main
antagonist,
a
media
mogul
Kaizad
Khambata.
Anurag
says
the
film,
particularly
Anushka's
character,
is
a
tribute
to
Lorna
Cordeiro,
a
jazz
singer,
who
ruled
the
night
clubs
with
her
silky
voice
in
the
'60s.
"This
film
is
dedicated
to
her.
There
were
places
like
Bistro
and
La
Bella,
whose
interior
helped
us
model
the
club
shown
in
our
movie.
There
were
opium
dens,
nighclubs
frequented
by
navy
people
in
Colaba.
Bombay
was
very
metropolitan
at
that
time
because
it
was
a
port
city."
Anurag,
who
shot
to
fame
with
his
small-budget,
gritty
dramas
without
stars,
encountered
many
naysayers
in
his
nine-year-old
journey
of
making
this
movie.
They
believed
he
was
overreaching
with
the
big-budget
saga.
"Not
so,"
says
Anurag,
who
is
confident
that
the
movie
(which
has
cost
more
than
Rs
80
crores)
needed
that
kind
of
budget.
"It
was
my
most
challenging
film
creatively.
It
is
the
tale
of
a
city
which
we
had
to
recreate.
We
had
to
show
the
BMC,
Marine
Drive
of
that
era.
We
needed
that
scale,
logistics
and
special
effects."
In
his
interviews,
Ranbir
has
revealed
how
he
approached
the
director
for
the
role
but
Anurag
was
initially
doubtful
about
casting
the
emerging
superstar.
"I
never
sent
the
script
to
him.
I
thought
he
is
very
urban
and
does
not
fit
into
this
movie.
He
read
the
script
and
said,
'I
want
to
do
it'."
Similarly,
the
idea
to
cast
Karan
Johar
came
out
of
the
blue.
The
relationship
that
began
with
name
calling
each
other
in
interviews
grew
to
be
that
of
a
friendship
and
finally
Anurag
ended
up
making
an
actor
out
of
Johar.
"He
is
so
good
in
the
movie
that
you
won't
believe
it.
He
has
that
suaveness,
South
Bombay,
Parsi
flavour
that
I
wanted.
He
is
a
manipulative
middleman
in
the
movie.
This
is
a
story
about
a
mentor
and
protege,
a
relationship
that
goes
bad."
Anushka
was
the
first
to
board
the
movie
as
Rosie
Noronha.
"She
has
mostly
played
expressive
roles.
In
this
film,
she
gives
an
internalised
performance.
I
think
they
also
liked
to
play
someone
which
the
world
does
not
see
them
as.
The
thing
that
I
like
about
Anushka
is
that
she
does
not
remind
of
someone.
I
like
that
originality."
Produced
by
Phantom
and
Fox
Star
Studios,
Bombay
Velvet
releases
tomorrow.
PTI