BOMBAY

Bombay is a Bollywood style film that was released in 1995. The movie is about a guy named Shekhar and a girl named Shaila Bano. In the beginning of the film, Shekhar returns home to his village from studying journalism. During his stay at home, Shekhar falls in love with Shaila. After several incounters. Shekhar finally wins the heart of Shaila. The two of them decide to get married and go and tell their parents. Shekhar's Father is displeased that his son is in love with a Muslim girl and the Shaila's dad feels the same way that Shekhar is of the Hindu religion. Shekhar and Shaila eventually leaves their families and go to Bombay. Shekhar's job there is a journalist. They get married and move in to an apartment together. However, they are met with some difficulties. As the movie goes on, they have two kids, Kabir and Kamal. Life seems pretty good for them until the Muslim/Hindu riots break out. Both of Their parents show up and eventually die in the riots. The end of the film, Shekhar and Shaila loses their two sons in the riot and it becomes a fight to get them back which they do in the end.

The film deals heavily with the topic of religion and the clash between the two of them. When Shekhar breaks the news to hi
s father about marrying Shaila. He storms over to confront Shaila's dad about it. The two engage in a heated conversation and Shaila's father pulls out a machete. On a side note, everywhere in his house, he seems to have a machete lying around somewhere because during their second encounter with each other, he randomly pulls out a machete again and they threaten to kill each other like usual.

After Shekhar and Shaila get married, they move into an apartment together. when Shekhar introduces Shaila to the woman, She gets upset and says how is she going to be able to pray with a muslim in the apartment. Down the road, when the riots break out, members of both religion go at it trying to kill each other with weapons and burning people and houses down. Shekhar's Father shows up first after hearing about these riots to check on his son. When Shaila's father shows up a little after, Shekhar Father has his grandsons covered in some Hindu-type makeup to the displeasure of Shaila's father. The two of them fight during their whole stay until the one night when Shekhar's father is walking home with one of his grandsons and is stopped by a group of Muslims. They threaten to kill them and Shaila's father shows up and says that he is his brother and the two of them from there put their differences aside.

Another main topic the film deals with is the riot between the Hindu's and Muslim's. The film points out about how pointless and cruel the riots were. At the end of the film, people finally stand up to the mobs and tell them enough is enough and also, one of the heads of the two groups realized the destruction when he see a bloodied child screaming in pain and calls for the end.

I thought this film was very-well done from the action pieces to the songs. The camera work was impressive and inventive especially during the songs sequences. I also liked the music in it and how the songs related to the actual plot of the story. The songs sequences were done in the style of music videos and relied heavily on quick cuts.

I also feel that the director made a wise choice with the last half of the movie by throwing the song sequences a-side and adding the songs over the fighting that was happening because it gave the devastation that was happening that more of an impact.

The one thing that i didn't really care for was the acting. I felt that the characters were a little to over the top with their performances and could have been toned down a little especially during their dramatic scenes. Overall, Bombay is a very powerful film and well-made and mixes Bollywood with some Hollywood in it.