it makes me sad to see that so many people were so easily impressed by this film. this film is a totally wasted opportunity, the makers had a chance to say something, but completely blew it, yet still managed to fool many people into thinking it actually had a message....the first TWO THIRDS of the film is basically romeo & juliet - a formula that has been DONE TO DEATH in Indian films since time immemorial. the same old, tired, clichéd 'Muslim boy loves hindu girl and their family won't accept it' storyline, which basically writes itself and in this case, allowed the writers to write perhaps a page of storyline that lasted about an hour and a half of screen time... we go through all the clichés, the argument between fathers, the lovers eloping, the children being born, the silly syrupy fun and games with the kids, the parents returning and everyone forgiving each other.... i've seen this exact same film HUNDREDS of times before....finally, after what seems like an eternity of stupid, cookie-cutter bollywood formula, a weak storyline emerges about the hindu-Muslim riots in bombay in the early 90s... it makes a few points, but doesn't do nearly enough to address the reasons behind it or make statements about the stupidity of religion and how it poisons everything... it would have been great to see the grandparents survive and tell each other that it was attitudes like theirs that led to the riots and deaths of so many innocents, but no, instead, the kids had to get lost and we had to worry about them instead....this film cheats the audience in so many ways that it's CRIMINAL. instead of commentary about religion, we get an overdone love story. instead of addressing the violence of religious people, we get two lost children. instead of addressing the issues in mixed-religion families, we get songs about having a baby girl.... with a precious few exceptions, this film is a totally wasted opportunity, avoid it!for a MUCH BETTER look at these riots, a much better story and for an actual discussion of the issues involved, see mahesh bhatt's superb 'zakhm' (1998), it's everything this movie should have been, and a lot more!

This one of the best effort took by Maniratnam who has highlighted the potential of the Tamil film makers.It's a movie reflected Hindu_Muslim conflict through a strong screenplay. Maniratnam's thought was supported by high technical assistance and the superb music by A.R.Rahman.This film shows how a tragedy arise from a single event made living in such a large city a risk full attempt.Aravinthswamy,Manisha and the two little kids expressed the feelings in a more realistic way. I think the director has been successful to leave the people who watched the movie with a feeling that everyone born just to enjoy every moment they live, not to waste it through horrible hatred feelings.It leaves a message that "HARMONY IS WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS".

This story of love and marriage between a Hindu man and Mospem woman was very well done. Even though I could not get the English subtitles to work on my DVD player, I was able to follow the plot with a little help from the package notes. The portrayal of the Hindu/Moslem religious riots of 1992/3 was very well done. It was an excellent portrayal of the violence, horror, bloodshed and suffering in so many such acts of violence in too many time periods, for too many reasons, and between too many groups of people. The thing uppermost in my mind was how Christian fundamentalists could want to import such horrors and such suffering to the United States - but I guess Christian fundamentalists do not watch movies like this.

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.