User reviews

The characters i most hated was of the ayesha. She is like a leech. Who survive on others and take advantage of others. Most annoying. Overall series was slow n boring.

The storyline of this series is good , specially the acting is superb. This story is about struggle of a womans and how to overcome thair problems.

If they are simply showing 5 lives of women without any disclaimer, then, it's fine. But how are these women portrayed as Begum? This is not empowerment. Except laxmi all characters seem hopeless, unwise and stupid.

Women don't need to act like irresponsible men to get empowered. Let's create shows where both men and women are expected to act wisely and responsibly. Just don't try to portray cheating, stupidity, taking drugs as empowerment. If men do it, it's wrong. If women do it, it's wrong.

If you want to watch a boring, senseless 4 hrs drama of wrongly portrait feminism than this is your show. Special mention to this naive actress plabita borthakur. One word 'nauseous'.

And these are my wife's opinion about this show -

This show intending to be feministic is just demeaning women in all ways it can , Women today work so hard managing work as well as the household duties, and this show tries to portray women in a light where they are messed up, non decisive, venting out their frustrations by cheating on their partners. Kindly do not portray women of this country in such a horrible light, we work hard , we handle our struggles without cheating.

What was the whole point of making this show? I see rather very similar 10/10 ratings and the words are all the same! Corporate politics, infedility, and there is nothing empowering about these shows. Cheating on your husband is not empowering. Cheating on your husband with him knowing is again not empowering. We need storytellers and not people who keep recycling the same old story from multiple shows and pack it up! Netflix - Really? You couldn't pick something as good as The Great Indian Kitchen which was rather empowering but you pick up this garbage!!

After testing waters with her highly provocative works like Lipstick under my Burkha, Made in Heaven and Dolly Kitty aur woh Chamakte Sitare, creator-director Alankritha Srivastava raises the stakes to a much higher level with Bombay Begums. The web series focuses on the lives of women in Mumbai belonging to various echelons of the society divided by socio-economic status, for a brief period of time.

In true Alankritha's style the series contains lots of sex scenes or rather unnecessary sex scenes that is left for the audiences to decide. But what works in the favour of Bombay Begums is its soul connecting storyline, that is brought to life with some amazing high quality characters that depict the society we live in today, especially the metros. The stories of five women, okay four women and a girl, who of various age groups raise various questions about their Issues of corporate high-handedness and boardroom politics that are intertwined with questions of gender identity, sexuality, workplace sexual harassment and even motherhood. The cocktail of which is then served on the screen, accompanied by some powerful acting performances by its central cast. What makes it more interesting is the fact that the characters, despite being strong and vivacious, are flawed beings, and often make questionable decisions motivated by self-interest.

Cinematography though very good in structure, is letdown by some very dim lighting is some scenes due to the shooting of scenes in natural light. Screenplay with well defined characters is beautifully crafted, laced with mandatory sex scenes in a typical Alankritha's style is covertly balanced, that calls a spade, a spade. Editing is a little bit messy at places and hinders the flow of the story, but with a run time of under 300 minutes one has to appreciate the editor. Production design is a mixed bag with lots of hits and misses, costumes were good and goofy at the same time, makeup was consistently overdone for almost everyone. Music was gentle and neat with a couple of good one minute songs, especially Lily's terrific item number. On the acting front Pooja Bhat delivered what she couldn't in the 90's, Gosh I never expected that surprise. Shahana Goswami chips in the extra effort, ably supported by by Amrutha Subhash (not her usual best) and Plabita Borthakur, who in a bold attempt plays a confused Ayesha, that will define her acting career for the future.

Overall, Bombay Begums is a step in the right direction. Despite the flawed nature in which its story is presented, the series has its heart in the right place and its representation of women is something new, even radical by Indian standards. Either you may like or hate it but Bombay Begums is an important landmark in Indian cinema as of 2021 for its boldness. Director Alankrita Shrivastava's ability to navigate through various layers of suppressed anger and the emotional volatility of her characters make for a most engaging watch. 7.3 stars out of 10 for an bold enterprise that asks the right set of questions to the right persons.

Another garbage content from Netflix. It's just a waste of your time. rather watch some documentaries.

I don't know why people always want to hide the true face of society....and if its come under series or films then it become like"not allowed things " why not......i really like the story and cast is amazing.....like it👍 And yeah if you want to watch this understand the depth of the story of each lady and there survivor....else" jo ganda sochte hai unko sab ganada hi lagata hai...jo bhi movie bana do sab mai problem hi nikalna rehta hai..."...grow up society grow up.....

It is presented well.It seems close to reality .It is relatable and to some extent shows to tackle the problem too. It's an entertaining story.

The characters show a unique lack of morals and wretchedness that the demon from the exorcist looks like a pink cheeked angel in comparison. At the end you are left with a feeling of having watched something indescribably ugly.

Great authentic performance almost by all .

Overall Low ratings because it has shown something which indian traditional society can't accept easily - women trying to live their life freely while balancing responsibilities.

It's a masterpiece . Pooja Bhatt I don't remember acted so well even during her peak (was there one?) .

Sensitivies between different Relationships have been very well handled. Great job by the director and writer .

It leaves you wanting to wait for season 2!

No storyline unless I failed to understand. Does this happen in our society or am I so naive. Every women exceeds the other women character to shine bigger on disgrace, morality and ethics like Fatima shows women in such disgraced light, such loving husband and she cheats, this is where I couldnt continue to take more stuff shown in the show. I can go on and on, please don't waste time on this show, it will only corrupt your thoughts.

Worst story!!!! Actually there is no writing. The writer is confused between the Feminism, Liberalism, Sex. This disaster happens when you try so many things and fail to do one properly. I write stories better than this.

Bollywood has been become garbage now and we can not expect anything good from them. For bollywood it is just lust and sex, extramarital, bisexual things is the world. The worst portrait of female. Aak thoo

Such a cliche product....so predictable and so surface level. Is this what Netflix has to offer as an International Show ???!!! Really drags with Bad screenplay....Abrupt Editing and Outta Synch performances....with such fixed limited ideas. The central idea is good but the woven plot is really bad.

I guess #Netlfix just joined hands with #AmazonPrime #Tandav

I don't know why people are hating on this series, it's a very good series with awesome cast and acting is on point. The story us promising and does shows the struggle of women.

The cliche continues! Why cant Bollywood get over the fact that urban India is not the same as it was in the 80s. Men and women are on an equal footing when it comes to achieving fulfilling careers while simultaneously having stable personal relationships. Why does the woman always fall upon extra marital affairs to establish her freedom? This false and stale narrative has been done to death. And using provocative kissing and intimate scenes is not going to save the script.

Wake up writers! You have a lot of interesting topics. Just move on from the 'wronged woman' storyline!!

Stellar direction and acting from the leading ladies. Wish pooja Bhatt had never taken that break from acting. Awesome to see her back. Can't wait for season 2.

Short words.. 1. If you understand corporate world.. Watch it 2. If you feel and understand women.. Watch it 3. If you can face the truth... Watch it

Some loop holes.. but you will love it... Its not perfect but it's not bad as people reviewing this series..

Time waste krne ke liye best hai ghatiya ekdum 5 sabse ghatiya series mein jayegi ye do kaudi ki series nahi hai 😂

Only watched two ep so far but i m finding that it is not very well written and directed and this impacts the acting. Firstly the narration by thecyoung girl is annoying and a little distracting. The boradroom talks are very shallow, there is no depth. If constant barrage of F words and sex scenes is empowering for the ladies then it is a shame unless this is the OTT techtic to lure the audience as i can see there is a pattern here. Also just when you start liking some characters or feel sympathy they are shown in a different, rather darker, light which is confusing.

Don't waste time watching this. Time is money! I don't know who the script writer is but it's utterly nonsense.