Review: Bombay Begums

Before I begin, I have to confess that I am not a big fan of Alankrita Shrivastav's work. I have had a chance to see her previous two outing, Lipstick under my Burqa and Dolly Kitty Ke Chamakte Sitare. And both of them failed to impress me. The message of femininity and trying to literally push it down viewers throat, gets a little too much and in Bombay Begum it is an encore too. There is a certain formulaic approach to how she looks at woman and that is weird. One understands for a society like India, we go with certain clichés and given norms. But... 

I for one, growing up in the heartland of Eastern UP have seen the status of Woman, Girls and infant girls at home and outside. I remember someone (unfortunately cannot disclose the identity or the relation) who actually fathered a child from his daughter because some holy saint had instructed him to get into a "sambhog" with his daughter for the greater good of the family. We were kids growing up and understood little of it then, but as we got a little worldly wise and Ma helped us usher into the big bad Adult world a lot of such imperfections and contagious elements came to haunt us. I have seen my mother's lady colleagues being virtually hounded for the salary they got the first of the month by their husbands (I still could not understand for the longest time, why did they do that). Wife beating, or cursing the woman for giving birth to a girl child, dark complexioned girls, highly qualified girls and simply marrying them off to just about anybody. There were stories galore. 

But, in all the misery, I have seen celebration of womanhood and woman too. Imperfections have remained but the small steps we all have taken and how. Womanhood is a celebration and my take on Woman's day post on the movie, Erin Brockovich is one such attempt. Alankrita, perhaps looks a little vexed and angst ridden for her women and  to be portrayed so imperfectly. 

And that is where Bombay Begum failed to impress me again. The medium of cinema or a web show is about entertaining and giving out a message (if it has a message to give). A classic Rohit Shetty film will entertain me and yet not be preachy. A Nitesh Tiwari film will entertain and also have a message. A movie like Dangal celebrated womanhood and that too, trapped in a state like Haryana. 

Bombay Begum showcases five woman who are trapped in their world. And trapped seems the word. Pooja Bhatt (good to see her after a long time and not counting Sadak 2) as Rani and heading a major bank looks like one with multiple problems at hand. Mother to two step kids who refuse to accept her and acknowledge her; at work the board and her peers are trying to constantly pull her down; an affair with the rival bank CEO; and finally the usual work place problems. Unfortunately, the real Rani is never known (except she was at the teller counter in Kanpur and she has risen through the ranks). A quick word on the her Bhagalpuri Silk Sarees, because those monochrome sarees only added to the grimness of the plot and they looked ravishing.  

There is Shahana Goswami as Fatima (it is a pleasure to see her, and especially after Rock On, we want to see more of her) who reports to Pooja. Early on, we know she is battling pregnancy related issues and is under stress; not to forget her work related stress too. Vivek Gomber (after the delightful performance in Help opposite Tillotama Shome) as Arijay and Fatima's husband yearns for a baby and seems visibly stressed too. Again, who is the real Fatima? Lost in translation.  

And, then there is Ayesha (played by Plabita Borthakur from Lipstick Under...fame) who is an employee at the bank and has her own internal demons too. Pressure from her parents in Indore to marry, she is a workplace mess, a failed relationships and a male boss who is trying to get fresh with her. Looks like she has had her hands full. Yet again, who is she? We know she wants to make a mark. But...

The fourth cog in the wheel is Amrita Subhash as Lily. A bar dancer and commercial sex worker who is trying to get her only son a decent education and is battling the usual diktat and norms that society lays down for such immoral characters apparently. Yes, she does seem to have her mojo and yet it slips often.  

And, the last and the one who is the narrator of the series is Shai (played by Aadhya Anand). She is step daughter of Rani and is the one who is the voice of all the woman in the series. She is personally battling her own problems of yet to overcome her mother's death, a strained relation with Rani and also her coming off age step to teenage world. There are conflicts and battles and demons she is trying to sort out. The only plot that seems to be somewhat working. 

What was all set to be a perfect setting for a great plot and with bank and banking at the forefront of it all; the plot never really takes off. There is too much message that is virtually being pushed into viewers throat and there is nothing solid to understand the premise. There were some moments that were picking up and then suddenly poor writing lets you down. 

Sampler; Ayesha is fired by Fatima for incompetency and is re-hired by Rani on grounds of compassion and put into the CSR wing. The whole context and sequence is so out of place and with sloppy writing makes it even worse. The character of Ayesha will stay in the plot and that is given. Why create such a weak and naïve plot to bring her back into the mainstream? Another sampler; Fatima and her constant battle with pregnancy related issues. Early on; we are told about her nth attempt into IVF and how it has fructified, finally. Yet, the loathe and the guilt of it all seems to be borne by her husband and her own sense of aloofness from it looks out of place. Later, when the IVF saga is replaced by surrogacy there seems more disdain in it. Wondering, why will one go through so much pain for all of this? And in a segment of the society which is educated, rich, have it all, can take informed decision, and have an inkling of things one is doing (unless am I missing something!) 

There are many such gaffes in the plot and how the pill of femininity and the lost cause of it all is to be taken in by viewers as a bitter one. There are hardly any moments of celebration. I thought the web series on Amazon, Four more shots please! was slightly better placed in that regard. 

Adhya Anand's character of Shai seems the only plausible hope in an otherwise forgetful affair which is wafer thin in plot and does not hold till the end (I lost interest). And after 300 minutes of run time, we were all left wondering, where did we head; because it still stood at the same place, where we started. 

Bombay Begums streams on Netflix!