When we talk about animations, we seldom talk about the ones made in India, though it is very few in numbers. Geetanjali Rao brings to us an animation that aligns reality to poetry with picturesque beauty.
One question that might arise is, why animation? The film tells the story of ordinary people living in Bombay, then why animation. Well, it is almost impossible to answer this question until and unless one sees the film. The poetry the film infuses in every frame, some of the transitions would have been impossible and the rich imagination would not have got justice with real human beings in them. There is Kamala, who sells garlands for a living, and looks forward to educating her little sister Tara.
There’s Salim, often referred to as, “Anarkali wali Salim?” who sells flowers too, and Ms. D Souza who teaches Tara English. These people have no larger-than-life dreams, Kamala dreams of being the princess in a palace, the scenes where the transitions take place of Kamala actually being a princess are ethereally beautiful, they look like a canvas. Geetanjali Rao resorts to handmade paintings, that impart a clumsiness to each character making them more beautiful. Salim and Kamala, confess to each other through stolen glances and flowers, but then there’s a villain in this story that won’t let this love story proceed any further.
Every character has their own secrets. Ms. D Souza, Tara’s English teacher still lives in her youth with the moment where her lover held her waist for 42 takes, while shooting for a movie. Whenever Ms. D Souza walks with Tara through the streets of Bombay, a transition takes place where the frame changes to black and white, while the streets resemble what they were once upon a time, a mottif of the times Ms. D Souza lives still lives in.
The film uses Bombay instead of Mumbai, to infuse nostalgia, to portray Bombay in a light, seldom seen on screen. The music soothes the heart and imparts much beauty to the storytelling. The seas and oceans are the infinities of the dreams that the characters hold in them, and also the goodbyes. ‘Bombay Rose’, is a must-watch because of its magic realism, moving poetry, hand-painted canvases, soothing music, and the layer of human emotions portrayed.
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