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.

1. The expectation bubble

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 paralle

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