Bombay Rose

Animation films from foreign markets are an interesting bunch to experience for a variety of reasons. There are times where they can experiment with different visual styles that combines hand drawings with computer framing, can occasionally show on-screen death in family features more than the American versions, and can be entertaining to see different cultures from those filmmakers perspectives. This brings us to a recent entry in that field that was released onto Netflix, Bombay Rose, which was written and directed by Gitanjali Rao. I didn't know much info about this movie as I was only made aware of it via a YouTube animation content reviewer (in this case, Cellspex). There hasn't been much social media buzz around it but I was curious to checking it out to see what it can offer. After watching it, it ended up being an underwhelming mixed bag. 

What's it about? The story follows a flower seller falling in love while being surrounded by other subplots. The best strength regarding this would be definitely the animation style as its utilizing frame by frame hand painted visuals using computer. It's impressive to see this being done for the runtime as you can see the effort from start to finish. It does a classic method of show more detail for characters focused on in scenes while leaving the surrounding crowds looking like the unfocused blurs you would expect. 

When it comes to the story content, however, that's where the beauty displayed onscreen can't cover up the blatant problems. There are 3 story arcs happening throughout and they don't mix well when it keeps switching back and forth between them. Because it's juggling those plot points and numerous characters, none of it feels fleshed out or emotionally moving to watch. It's the classic scenario of "style over substance" and it doesn't leave a memorable impression despite its attempts. At the end of it all, it becomes an forgettable unfocused disorganized structure with pacing problems. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Cyli Khare and Amit Deondi. Cyli and Amit give decent performances but aren't given better material to work with and it felt like their voice directing wasn't as good as it could have been. Honorable mention goes to Amardeep Jha for providing the best acting of the cast and being able to standout better. 

 

Overall Consensus: Bombay Rose is unable to hide behind beautiful visualization when its intent suffers from unfocused subplots, uninteresting characters, and an unmemorable experience lacking emotional investment. ⭑⭑⭑1/4 Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes PG

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or filmmaker Gitanjali Rao. You are interested in frame by frame painted animation. You don't mind the mixing of English and Indian languages in the dialogue (it's more of the latter than the former).

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or filmmaker Gitanjali Rao. You are bored by subplots that get stale and tedious to watch without anything to care about. You dislike style over substance executions.