Review of Bombay

The film Bombay looks at religious relations within India through the lens of a Muslim and Hindu couple, living during the time of the 1994 Bombay riots. The film is broken into two parts, and locations. The first, is in the couple’s hometown in South India, and focuses on the reactions of the young lovers family’s to their budding romance. The second part is located in Bombay after the couple have married, and had children. This section looks at religious relations in the city of Bombay through the experience of the couple’s Hindu-Muslim twin boys during the time of the Bombay riots. Between the two parts is a gap, which shows the happiness and love of the young family in Bombay.

The stark contrast between the two parts left me wondering if the film had more than one writer. The beginning was frustratingly bad, and unconvincing. This proves to be an unfortunate start for such a good movie. The movie begins with the couple’s first glimpse of each other. The man, Shekhar, sees Shaila, his future wife, as she is stepping out of a small boat. For a brief second Shaila’s hijab is lifted by the pre-monsoon wind, and her face revealed. Although she immediately tries to cover herself, they have made eye contact and he is entranced. From then on any time they see each other, a lingering, emotion-filled stare is shared. A meaningful glance being enough to start a relationship before any words are shared seems to be a common happening in Indian films. Shekhar chooses to go to extremes to speak to Shaila. One day he dresses as a Muslim girl and rides the boat with her and her family members. In the only conversation the two have, he demands she meet him and tells her he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Bombay has been called a modern day Indian Romeo and Juliet but I have a hard time believing that Shekhar could realistically share the same feelings that a 16-year old Romeo had forhis 12-year old lover, Juliet.

Complicating the story and redeeming the beginning of the film is the reaction of the two families once their intention to get married is known. Each father is depicted as being extremely religious. The intention divides and hurts both families. The intensity of the situation is clear when Shekhar’s father goes to Shaila’s father and threatens to kill him. Shekhar flees his family and returns to Bombay. He sends Shaila a train ticket. She arrives in Bombay and they are married. Here, for the first time, the audience is able to see each of the main characters as whole people. It becomes more difficult to deny their love as the audience watches their sweet interactions, as they start a family and create a home together.

The happy interlude comes to an abrupt end when the Bombay riots break out in the family’s neighborhood. At the outbreak the couple are separated from their five year old sons. Subsequently, men, demanding to know their religion, corner the twins. The twins are unable to answer and, in response, the men pour gasoline on them. Luckily, the parents intervene just in time,saving the boys from physical, if not mental, trauma. News soon reaches the couple’s families in the south. Independently, both grandparents travel to Bombay to make sure everyone is okay. At this point we learn that one of the little boys has a Muslim name, and the other, a Hindu name. Again, peace is restored. The grandfather’s continue to bicker but it has turned from serious to comical. In the face of danger, on a widespread, public scale the family unites to protect itself. Despite the break from immediate danger the movie continues to emphasize the seriousness of the situation through Shekhar’s journalism work on the riots. Through this, the writer’s are able to provide the viewing audience with an understanding of the history of the riots and the feelings of the major players involved.

The climax of the movie comes with the next outbreak of violence in the neighborhood, when the couple’s apartment catches on fire while the family is home. The couples and their twins escape but Shekhar’s parents turn back to save Shaila’s father, who is praying. As a representation of how far the two families have come the Hindu grandfather goes as far as to grab the Islamic grandfather’s Koran for him as they leave. By the time the grandparents return to the window, though, the exit is blocked and they perish in the fire.

While the couple was escaping from the fire, they, again, lose sight of their twin boys. It will be days, possibly weeks (it is hard to tell), before the family will find them. In the mean time the couple searches, desperately, for them. The couple visits morgues and hospitals, in hopes of finding out the fate of their sons, and allowing the audience to fully take in the toll the violence has taken on the city. Finally, the madness reaches a breaking point, and even the fanatical leaders are forced to confront the damage they have caused. Right before the boys are recovered the father mentally collapses screaming at a crowd of protestors and dousing himself in gasoline in the process. The movie ends with the couple finding their children, and the rioters taking hands to form one long chain: a hopeful sign for the future amidst the chaos and destruction around them.

The search for the twin boys is painfully long, and disturbing, as the audience is forced to watch the boys struggle to survive. The movie is extremely effective in making the viewership come to terms with the intensity of what happened in Bombay. It isimpossible to watch, and not be emotionally moved. It is my understanding that the basic goal of Indian cinemais to create emotional responses in its audience. Despite the lack of song and dance towards the end, the movie is extremely effective, and moving.

(Posted for EvaClaire)