A
girl
on
a
railway
station
who
croons
Lata
Mangeshkar
songs
with
aching
luminosity,
a
stoic
gluttonous
ostrich,
a
flirty
cocky
gay
entertainment
journalist,
a
closet
actor,
a
little
boy
who
likes
to
dance
like
Katrina
Kaif
and
a
man
from
Allahabad
who
just
wants
to
meet
Amitabh
Bachchan
for
a
few
seconds...
Such
are
the
engrossing
characters
that
populate
the
unforgettable
world
of
Bombay
Talkies.
Bombay
Talkies
is
that
rarity,
which
makes
us
thankful
for
the
gift
of
the
movies.
Four
stories
directed
by
four
contemporary
Bollywood
directors
emerge
and
merge
with
seamless
splendour
into
a
pastiche
of
pain
and
pleasure.
Like
four
scoops
of
ice
cream,
one
yummier
than
the
other,
Bombay
Talkies
serves
up
a
flavourful
quartet
of
delights
that
leave
us
craving
for
more.
It's
like
that
song
written
by
the
immortal
Sahir
Ludhianvi
-
"Abhi
na
jao
chhod
kar
ke
dil
abhi
bhara
nahin".
No,
that
song
isn't
part
of
the
film.
But
there
are
songs
of
the
melody
queen
Lataji
which
haunt
your
senses
as
the
restless
edgy
protagonists,
each
in
search
of
an
emotional
liberation
that
strikes
them
in
unexpected
ways
at
the
end
of
every
story,
seek
a
slice
of
cloudburst
to
nourish
their
parched
spirits.
So
on
to
the
first
and
my
favourite
story
directed
by
Karan
Johar
where
a
sterile
marriage
between
an
urban
working-couple
played
by
Rani
Mukherjee
and
Randeep
Hooda
is
shaken
by
the
arrival
of
young
ebullient
homosexual
who
enters
their
frozen
marriage
in
a
most
unexpected
way.
This
story
more
than
any
other,
pushes
Indian
cinema
to
the
edge
to
explore
a
theme
and
emotions
that
have
so
far
been
swept
under
the
carpet.
Karan,
whose
most
brilliant
film
My
Name
Is
Khan,
was
also
about
a
marginalised
community,
strips
the
urban
relationship
of
all
its
shock
value.
He
looks
at
the
three
characters'
frightening
spiritual
emptiness
with
a
dispassion
that
was
denied
to
the
characters
in
his
earlier
exploration
of
crumbling
marital
values
in
Kabhi
Alvida
Naa
Kehna.
Thanks
to
the
unsparing
editing
by
Deepa
Bhatia,
a
gently
arousing
background
score
by
Hitesh
Sonik,
deft
but
credible
dialogues
penned
by
Niranjan
Iyenger
and
camerawork
by
Anil
Mehta
that
sweeps
gently
across
three
wounded
lives,
Karan
is
able
to
nail
the
poignancy
and
the
irony
of
his
urban
fable
in
just
four-five
key
scenes.
This
is
his
best
work
to
date.
Rani
delivers
another
power-packed
performance.
It's
Saqib
Saleem
who
steals
this
segment
with
his
unmitigated
spontaneity
and
reined-in
ebullience.
The
second
story
by
Dibakar
Bannerjee
features
that
wonderful
chameleon
actor
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui
as
a
man
who
would
have
been
an
actor
if
only
life's
drudgeries
had
not
overtaken
his
life.
Dibakar
is
a
master-creator
of
vignettes
from
everyday
life.
Here
his
detailing
of
chawl
life
is
unerring.
Nikos
Andritsakis's
cinematography
doesn't
miss
a
single
nuance
in
Nawaz's
sad
yet
hopeful,
bleak
yet
bright
existence.
The
sequence
where
Siddiqui
washes
clothes
with
the
chawl's
women
is
savagely
funny
and
poignant,
as
is
his
life-changing
moment
when
Nawaz
gets
to
perform
one
shot
with
Ranbir
Kapoor.
No,
we
don't
see
Ranbir,
we
just
feel
his
presence,
and
we
also
hear
filmmaker
Reema
Kagti
giving
orders
from
the
directorial
chair,
but
we
don't
see
her
either.
Nawaz
in
Dibakar's
deft
hands,
takes
his
character
through
a
journey
of
profoundly
saddening
self-discovery
without
any
hint
of
self-pity.
This
segment
is
quirky,
funny
and
tragic.
No
one
is
allowed
to
feel
sorry
for
Nawaz's
character.
Not
even
Nawaz.
Ebullient
and
enchanting
are
the
descriptions
that
come
to
mind
while
watching
Zoya
Akhtar's
film
about
a
little
boy
(Naman
Jain,
brilliant)
who
would
rather
dance
to
Katrina
Kaif's
song
than
become
a
cricketer
or
a
pilot,
as
per
the
wishes
of
his
tyrant
papa
(Ranveer
Shorey).
The
household
brims
over
with
song,
dance
and
giggles
between
the
Katrina-enamoured
boy
and
his
sibling
and
confidante
(a
very
confident
Khushi
Dubey).
Charming
warm
humorous
and
vivacious
Zoya's
film
serves
up
a
very
gentle
moral
lesson.
Let
a
child
grow
the
way
it
wants
to.
Zoya's
film
makes
our
hearts
acquire
wings.
And
yes,
it
immortalises
Katrina
Kaif.
Finally,
Anurag
Kashyap's
homage
to
the
unmatchable
stardom
of
Amitabh
Bachchan.
A
simple
fable
of
a
man
journeying
from
Allahabad
to
meet
Bachchan,
this
segment
is
more
baggy
and
loose-limbed
than
the
other
three
tightly-edited
stories.
This
is
not
to
take
away
from
its
power.
As
played
by
Vineet
Kumar
Singh,
the
Common
Man's
devotion
to
the
Bachchan
aura
is
manifested
in
the
tongue-in-cheek
spoken
lines
and
the
casual
energy
of
Mumbai's
street
life.
Anurag
captures
the
sometimes-funny
often-sad
bustle
around
the
Bachchan
bungalow
with
warmth
and
affection.
The
segment
certainly
doesn't
lack
in
warmth.
But
it
could
have
done
with
a
tighter
grip
over
the
narrative.
Bombay
Talkies
is
segmented
and
layered,
yet
cohesive
and
compelling
from
the
first
frame
to
the
last.
While
unravelling
the
magic
of
cinema
and
its
impact
on
the
minds
of
audiences,
Bombay
Talkies
also
displays
how
much
cinema
has
evolved
over
the
generations.
This
is
a
beguiling,
beautiful
and
befitting
homage
to
100
years
of
Indian
cinema.
It's
also
proof
that
different
stories
in
an
episodic
film
could
comfortably
have
directors
with
different
sensitivities
staring
in
the
same
line
of
vision.
If
you
watch
only
one
film
a
year
make
sure
it's
this
one.
IANS
Karan
Johar's
Story
Karan
Johar's
story
is
about
an
urban
married
couple
played
by
Rani
Mukherjee
and
Randeep
Hooda,
who
are
dealing
with
a
bad
sex
life.
But
the
entry
of
an
homosexual
young
man
played
by
Saqib
Saleem
changes
everything
in
their
life.
Dibakar
Banerjee's
Story
A
lower-middle
class
man's,
played
by
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui,
Bollywood
dreams
come
true
when
he
gets
the
chance
to
play
a
small
role
as
an
extra
in
Ranbir
Kapoor's
film.
Zoya
Akhtar's
Story
A
school
boy,
Naman
Jain,
is
forced
by
his
father
(Ranveer
Shorey)
to
play
football
because
that's
what
boys
do.
But
Naman
is
a
die
hard
fan
of
Katrina
and
wants
to
be
like
her.
Anurag
Kashyap's
Story
Just
like
thousands
of
other
people,
a
young
man
from
Allahabad
(Vineet
Kumar
Singh),
travels
to
Mumbai
to
meet
Bollywood
legend
Amitabh
Bachchan.
But
his
purpose
is
to
give
Amitabh
morabba
made
by
his
mother.
Bombay
Talkies
Karan
Johar,
Zoya
Akhtar,
Dibakar
Banerjee
and
Anurag
Kashyap
-
Four
directors
with
different
talent
came
together
to
celebrate
100
years
of
Indian
cinema
with
Bombay
Talkies.