Post-interval, the story wilts and Kashyap dedicates himself to making everything look cool, but losing sight of the narrative. The film looks like a million bucks, but has no depth. In cricketing terms, it feels like a beautifully crafted, well-timed shot — only to be caught at the boundary.
– Mihir Fadnavis (Firstpost.com)
Among the effective moments of real emotion is the song Dhadaam Dhadaam, where the marriage of glimpses of the action with Rosie’s performance works perfectly. The rest of the time, the montage of moments and fragments fails to make the heart skip a beat, let alone go boom-boom.
– Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)
This might sound like heresy, but even that awfully cheesy Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai movie had characters worth caring about despite the moronic dialogue they recited; Bombay Velvet has the skills but makes it awfully hard to feel anything for guy, girl or the world they’re in. With no true stakes, the film plods messily along to a climax that feels emotionally unearned and interminably stretched.
– Raja Sen (Rediff.com)
The first half keeps you ensnared as you are busy soaking in the grandeur of the whole set up, the sizzling chemistry between Ranbir and Anushka and of course, a whole lot of events unfolding in the course of one hour... This film is more like a roller coaster ride, as it takes you on a dizzy high with its charming ambience and music that is bound to stay with you for long, but later you are brought down not so gently with the underwhelming plot and lack of punches.
– Shubha Shetty Saha (Mid-day.com)