Film

Bombay Talkies

A four-part birthday card to Hindi cinema, stitched together by Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap for its centenary. Each segment plays a different note — repressed desire, small-town longing, a boy's forbidden dream, a dying man's devotion to Amitabh Bachchan — with wildly uneven results. Best watched as a mixtape, not an album.

TMDb rating3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like portmanteau films where four separate stories circle one shared obsession, the pull of cinema itself, and you enjoy watching each one take that idea somewhere new.

Skip it if you need one sustained story to settle into, since four short segments mean each one barely gets going before the next takes over and the result can feel uneven.

What it asks of you: Runs just over two hours in four blocks, so it wants patience with shifts in tone and a willingness to let each chapter land before the next.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Lust Stories2018

The same four-director anthology formula, sharper and more confident, tackling desire and marriage across class lines with real bite. Feels like the format finally clicking.

But Some segments land harder than others — the anthology gamble means you'll love two and shrug at two.

Lust Stories poster

Ghost Stories2020

The unofficial trilogy-closer from the same quartet of directors, this time in horror clothing, using fear to say things the earlier films said through sex and shame.

But Genre horror isn't everyone's taste, and the scares are more atmospheric dread than jump-scare thrills.

Ghost Stories poster

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara2011

Zoya Akhtar's warm, gorgeous film about three friends confronting the lives they settled for. Funnier and gentler than Bombay Talkies but chasing the same question of what you owe yourself.

But It's a glossy travel movie at heart — if you wanted grit over scenery, this leans the wrong way.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Bombay Talkies

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Cinema Paradiso1988

Anurag Kashyap's segment is a fever-dream tribute to Amitabh Bachchan and the power of cinema idolatry; this is that same devotion, decades earlier, in another country's grammar entirely.

An Italian classic about a boy raised inside a village cinema, and the projectionist who becomes his whole world. It's the purest, most tender love letter to moviegoing ever made.

But It's unabashedly sentimental and takes its time — cynics may find it too soft-hearted by the final reel.

Cinema Paradiso poster
More like this (8)

Kapoor & Sons2016

A family drama that quietly, movingly handles a closeted son much like Bombay Talkies' Avinash — with more room to breathe and a devastating emotional payoff.

But Nearly two and a half hours of slow-building family tension; patience required for the payoff.

Kapoor & Sons poster

Dil Dhadakne Do2015

Another Zoya Akhtar ensemble about the lies families tell themselves, narrated by a dog, which sounds absurd and somehow isn't. Sharp on aspiration and appearances.

But Rich-people problems on a yacht — if that premise makes you roll your eyes, it won't win you over.

Dil Dhadakne Do poster

Gully Boy2019

The dream-against-the-odds story Bombay Talkies gestures at with its dancing boy, done full-length and full-throated, with music that actually earns the triumph.

But It's a rags-to-rap-stardom arc you've seen the shape of before, even if the execution is excellent.

Gully Boy poster

Masaan2015

Two intertwined stories of shame and small-town longing along the Ganges, carrying the same Anurag Kashyap DNA but far more devastating and controlled.

But Genuinely sad rather than bittersweet — go in knowing there's little comic relief to cushion it.

Masaan poster

Aligarh2016

Takes the closeted-man storyline Bombay Talkies only glances at and sits with it fully, via a quietly devastating Manoj Bajpayee performance based on a real case.

But Deliberately slow and sorrowful — this is not a film for a light evening in.

Aligarh poster

Dear Zindagi2016

A mainstream Bollywood film willing to talk plainly about therapy, self-acceptance and the stories we inherit about who we should be — gentle where Bombay Talkies is jagged.

But It can tip into self-help-poster territory, and Shah Rukh Khan's therapist is almost too wise to be real.

Dear Zindagi poster

Celluloid Man2012

Bombay Talkies exists because of a centenary; this is the true story of the man who made sure there was still film left to celebrate.

A documentary about P.K. Nair, the archivist who single-handedly rescued thousands of Indian films from rot and neglect. Astonishing footage, and a quiet hero you'll never forget.

But It's a slow, reverent documentary with no plot momentum — built for cinema lovers, not casual viewers.

Celluloid Man poster

Courage Under Fire1996

Karan Johar's segment tiptoes around a marriage hollowed out by a hidden sexuality; Fire, made nearly two decades earlier, refuses to tiptoe at all.

Deepa Mehta's banned, controversial drama about two sisters-in-law trapped in loveless arranged marriages who find intimacy with each other. Bold, angry, groundbreaking for Indian cinema at the time.

But It caused riots on release for a reason — this is confrontational, political filmmaking, not a comfortable watch.

Courage Under Fire poster

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Recommended by

Lust Stories 3, Lust Stories, The Stoker, Venkatadri Express, Jannal Oram