Bombay Velvet bombed hard at the box office. The figures are brutal - 16 crores on the first weekend on an alleged budget of 90 crores. It gets even worse when you factor in seven years of work put in by some of the people involved with the film. The really shocking part of this outcome is that the film, despite having some script level problems, isn’t actually so bad – it’s a visual cinematic achievement with a lead couple that has rare genuine chemistry.
The project almost seemed like it was cursed. There are plenty of reviews out there to explain why the film didn’t work, but here are five other reasons why it suffered a stillborn box office fate:
1. Pre-Release Negative Vibes
The one drawback of being very excited about a film is that one learns everything that happens during its making. Bombay Velvet faced constant bad press. From early 2014 itself gossip columns began circulating tidbits of how one major studio had backed out of the film at the last minute fearing a big flop. Then there were rumours of the film going over budget, and reports of reshoots because no one was happy with the final product. Later the official bombshell was dropped that the film was delayed by six months, and it was clear that the film had problems. Unless the final film turns out to be a stunning, watertight achievement it’s tough to beat such negative press. The new Mad Max, which released the same day had awful press for years and look how that turned out. To add a setback Ranbir Kapoor was just coming from the massive failure of Besharam, and since he isn’t Bhai, viewers weren’t exactly desperate to see his next.
2. The Songs
Amit Trivedi’s music, yet again, was incredible. The problem? It was Jazz based, and that genre of music isn’t particularly liked by mainstream India tripping on Blue Hai Paani Paani. Sadly, every Hindi movie needs at least one big hit song to become a box office success. Just look at the numbers of Yaariyan, which featured that horrendous aforementioned song.
3. The Marketing
Bombay Velvet was one of the worst marketed films of all time. The trailers, all three of them did nothing to entice audiences. People were waiting for the first look of the first big mainstream film from Kashyap, and watching a mishmash of noise, sloppily slapped together scenes with a Once Upon a Time in Mumbai flavour left viewers cold.
Tens of crores of currency was spent in building sets in Sri Lanka, a boat load of effort was put in crafting the beautiful Jazz based songs, but the promos, for some reason, featured remixes of those songs. Take for example Mohabbat Buri Bimari - the actual footage of the song, with the original Lankan sets in the film is quite beautiful – it was remixed with Shalmali replacing Neeti Mohan’s more authentic Jazz voice, a music video was shot in a tacky film city set and released, naturally, to an even colder result.
4. The Day One Word of Mouth
Had Kashyap’s name not been attached to the film, it would probably have been hailed as the success of the year. Critics have high expectations walking into his films, and they were sorely disappointed. Friday morning was flooded with reviews that ranged from so-so to downright nonsensical sensationalist thrashing. Kashyap is a critic’s darling, and if the one segment of people who love everything he does has given a lukewarm response to his latest work, it’s bound to make people think before getting a ticket.
It didn’t help that the lukewarm word of mouth on Friday morning ballooned into a vapid, shit flinging, opportunistic mechanism for some people who reveled in Kashyap’s failure. Personal vendetta brandishing folks like Milap Zaveri demonstrated their class with triumphant smiles.
5. The AK Factor
Bombay Velvet turned out to be the most Un-urag Kashyap film ever made – it’s got none of his signature visual style, nor are there any memorable lines. Not to mention his films are never easy to watch, even for his fans. Take Gangs of Wasseypur and Gulaal, for instance – they’ve got so much indulgence in them, a quality that makes Kashyap’s films cult classics. Perhaps Velvet needed the indulgence because ironically it is his most accessible and straightforward film to date, and it didn’t work.