Bombay

It is hard to make a good movie despite having a good story. For there are chances of making mistakes in the script or cinematography or music or direction.But Maniratnam has made a movie with no mistakes to find in it! Real magic! He did not make it that perfect even in'Thalapathi' or 'Roja' or even 'Nayagan'. Suitable music ,neat portrayal, nice story and over all a great movie!A perfect 10 to say.This deserved to win a national award, though it was not given. But still,it is the bestTamilfilm i had ever seen.Also it should have been a very big hit for its good content. A must see for all. The best from Maniratnam.I had watched it 5 times.

This is a film about the ethnic divide in India set during the 1994 Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai (Bombay).

The direction is slick, the script excellent and the songs brilliant. You will not often find an Indian Commercial film which is entertaining and has a thoughtful message.

While the ending might be idealistic and slightly unrealistic, it gives us hope that one day we will set aside our differences. The message is also not rammed down our throat, so overall go and watch this movie!

This movie is often compared to Spielberg's "Schindler's List", as the one and only movie which actually works in this context and how Spielberg could have made it to express his strong pathetic and political emotions. What a shame that "Bombay" haven't got such a big audience.

The true life epos tells us the story of the Muslim-Hindu conflict 1995 in Bombay from the viewpoint of a young Muslim-Hindu couple doomed to leave their home town and families. This movie was made in the south, in Madras, shortly after the riots, and was immediately synchronized in Bombay to Hindi for the big audience. During the next three hours (the typical hindi movie length) everything works out fine, until the last thirty minutes where the Bombay riots suddenly break up everything. Mani Ratnam is the one and only director how dares to bring a song (every Hindi movie is a musical) during the very realistic war scenes, where such a scene actually works. Scenes where you are immediately reminded to how you would have shaken your head or laughed if this was just "Schindler's List". Imagine the jews singing in the last 30 minutes. Or the Trier train dance scene (for which you have to see "Dil Se") cut to the end. Not so here. They sing about the cruelty of war. Stop fighting. Crying, laughing, singing, dying, very close together. Where Trier sinks into unbelievable and childish anti-dead sentence pathos, Ratnam is still with the people, full of positive power. Incredible. A must see from one of the most important directors world-wide.

First having heard the music and later having eyewitness information from the 1993 riots in Mumbai from my wife (who was in her early teens at the time), I sat and watched this movie in my home on what happened to be India's 60th Independence Day anniversary. I must admit I was stunned and baffled and all that, especially from the magnificent depiction of an impossible love story. The riot scenes in the second half of the film are also quite moving, but the end of the film lacks some of the momentum found elsewhere.

Nevertheless, this is a movie worth watching, especially in the company of Indians, since it contains a lot of symbolism hardly understandable to "us" foreigners.

Bombay was something excellent, it was natural, it happened, more over every one played their part well, making it a success, even people who worked in the backstage. The Great Director choose his subjects well. Prakash Rai who was offered a small role....was excellent too..the budding star at that time.

You can also see the set, the expression of the actors who acts as the public, or who just appear once, they still do their best, you can also watch some scene where the crowd appears. great direction, he could manage all that too, we need more movies like these, we need more directors and actors like these, to make a great movie of time.