Wasn’t Bombay Talkies supposed to be a celebration of the 100 years of Indian cinema? Then what was Karan Johar’s Ajeeb Dastaan Hain Yeh doing in there? A mere insertion of a hit number from the yesteryears and a character with a roomful of vintage film music, doesn’t make it a tribute to cinema.
Irrespective of the “wows” that I heard about Karan Johar’s 25 minutes of the movie, it was a total misfit in the scheme of things. Also there isn’t any twist in the tale. You could always see that coming.
Though Dibakar Banerjee’s and Zoya Akhtar’s had a hint of cinema, but cinema in there seemed more like a prop. And it was only Anurag Kashyap’s Murabba that could satisfy my hunger.
Murabba captures what films mean to us Indians and the importance film stars have in our lives. These are the kind of stories that I expected Bombay Talkies to tell, unfortunately 3/4th fell flat (though Dibakar Banerjee’s Star wasn’t a complete let-down).
Another big disappointment was the music. Amit Trivedi has done better and could’ve done better. The insipid tracks do not live up to the glorious tradition of Hindi film music. Bachchan with its Punjabi beats fails to convey in its music how big Bachchan actually is.
And the title track doesn’t capture the vast expanse both in its lyrics and music and while the picturisation minus the star appearances were okay but when the stars (20 of them) came in dancing, it only further reinforced what I felt about the movie. A damp-squib of a tribute. Only the taste of the murabba lingers.
Rating: 2.5/5
Contrary to the author’s opinion, I strongly feel Karan Johar’s 25 minutes in the movie was the best, on so many levels. With Indian cinema celebrating 100 years, it’s time we start making movies on topics that have by far been considered taboo in our society. While I’m an Anurag Kashyap fan, the Murabba story was a real disappointment.