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Bombay Rose Movie Review

Bombay Rose is a 2021 Indian animated film directed by Gitanjali Rao. It is an artistic movie, but one that is rather hollow in its plot.

An orphan boy Salim lost his parents in the war and is now struggling through life alone. One day he meets the young flower seller Kamala at a market in the exciting city of Bombay and she falls for him, but she is Hindu and he is Muslim. This religious polarization is still an important issue that needs to be explored in cinema, and it was depicted very well here.

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But at its core, this still remains a Romeo and Juliet-inspired storyline that simply lacked authenticity in my opinion. I am glad that it was released on Netflix and that more international audiences will support an Indian animated effort, but I hope that the next one that we get is better than this one.

The characters are also rather forgettable, though the voice acting is quite strong. The movie is so visually oriented that it forgot to tell a genuinely arresting story, instead depicting bits and pieces of different characters and subplots, resulting in an overly segmented product that bothered me. The editing really should have been better.

With that being said, Bombay Rose is still beautiful to look at. Its animation is both classical and very unique as it is colorful but not being garish in its very Indian outlook on life, imagery and culture. This authentic movie is a great introduction into this country’s culture, in particular focusing on their music. The score here is excellent and very evocative through and through. I just wished it was a full musical as this was by far the best aspect of the whole movie.

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