A still from Bombay Velvet.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's home turf might have been less than welcoming of his last film
Bombay Velvet but at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, it was a different story.
The crime noir film, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, was screened at Locarno on July 11 and left its director overwhelmed. Anurag, 42, posted this on
Facebook:
"8600 people at Piazza Grande saw
Bombay Velvet and they loved it. I know so many back home that didn't see it and the so many that trashed it. Maybe here no one knew me and came with a blank mind and a clean slate and I was just another film maker. The detractors will still say what they want to but for me it came a full circle. An extremely emotional night, a lady bar owner offered me free drinks after the film and I can finally sleep well. Thank you Locarno, thank you Sergio Fant thank you Carlos and thank you Jattin Kapoor who travelled from Munich just for the night. Thank you Sunil T Doshi who didn't leave me for a second. It was beautiful. Now on to the next."
Anurag's producer friend Sunil Doshi wrote on Twitter that
Bombay Velvet had left a dent in Locarno:
This is Anurag at Locarno:
Just two months ago, Anurag was writing a very different sort of note on Facebook, after
Bombay Velvet opened to poor reviews and empty theatres. "This is the film I wanted to make and I am glad I got to make it. I am very happy that all those who have been part of this journey firmly stand with it. No, I am not depressed or hiding, this has taught us a lot and is my absolute personal favourite, there have been no regrets whatsoever.
Bombay Velvet has been worth all the heart ache and pain and a memory to cherish for life. The Applause or Brickbats do not matter, what matters is who is standing in the arena. I WILL BE BACK," he said in a lengthy post.
Bombay Velvet, deemed the year's biggest debacle, was made at a stated budget of Rs 100 crores which, insiders say, could have been a lower estimate than what the film actually cost to make. Set in Mumbai's Jazz Age, it featured Ranbir as the hitman Johnny Balraj, Anushka Sharma as singer Rosie Noronha, and Karan Johar as nightclub owner Kaizad Khambata.