Bombay Talkies

Bombay Talkies

Year: 2013

Runtime: 127 mins

Language: Hindi

Directors: Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee

RomanceDrama

One hundred years of Hindi cinema is celebrated in four short stories showcasing the power of film.

Bittersweet
Mixed feelings
Moderately emotional
Medium intensity
Steady pacing
Moderate complexity

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Bombay Talkies (2013)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Bombay Talkies (2013). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh (small town), India

Bombay Talkies unfolds across Mumbai's urban landscape, with scenes in homes, offices, and a busy train station. The other segments travel to a small town in Uttar Pradesh, then back to the city’s film-world milieu, illustrating a wide social canvas. The settings reflect modern Indian life and the dream-factory nature of cinema, from intimate family spaces to public performance.

🌆 City life 🚆 Train stations 🎬 Bollywood backdrop

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:58

Main Characters – Bombay Talkies (2013)

Meet the key characters of Bombay Talkies (2013), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Dev (Randeep Hooda)

A married man who is shocked when Avinash reveals his sexuality and becomes torn between duty to his wife and buried desires. He performs a volatile mix of anger and vulnerability, culminating in a kiss that exposes his inner conflict and fragility. His arc centers on conflicting loyalties, repression, and the price of denying truth.

💍 Marriage 😮 Shock 🧭 Inner conflict

Avinash (Saqib Saleem)

A young man who openly identifies as gay, seeking honesty and connection. He catalyzes the drama by sharing his truth, forming a complex bond with Dev, and challenging Gayatri's openness. His actions drive the emotional core of the story, highlighting themes of acceptance and consequence.

🌈 Identity 💔 Heartbreak 🎯 Truth-seeker

Gayatri (Rani Mukerji)

A magazine journalist who responds to Avinash's truth with openness, later deciding her own independence. She challenges the couple's dynamic and places agency in her own hands, embodying resilience and modern attitudes toward sexuality. Her stance reframes the problem as one of personal autonomy rather than blame.

🌟 Progressive 🎨 Journalist 💪 Independent

Vijay (Vineet Kumar Singh)

A man from a small town in Uttar Pradesh who travels to Mumbai to fulfill his dying father's wish to meet Amitabh Bachchan. He endures hunger and hardship, and the encounter becomes a symbolic moment about dreams, respect, and returning home with a renewed perspective on life and family.

🏡 Family duty 🗺️ Journey 🎭 Dreamer

Purandar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui)

A failed actor striving to land a role after his father's death, navigating the harsh realities of show business. His experience on set and his reflections uncover the gap between ambition and opportunity, leading to a moment of artistic truth inspired by his craft and the cinema's legacy.

🎭 Actor 💔 Struggle 🔄 Transformation

Amitabh Bachchan (Himself)

Iconic film star who appears as himself in the Murabba vignette, serving as a distant beacon of aspiration for Vijay and a touchstone of Bollywood's cultural gravity. His presence embodies the enduring dream framework of Indian cinema.

🎬 Icon 🏆 Legend ✨ Inspiration

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:58

Major Themes – Bombay Talkies (2013)

Explore the central themes of Bombay Talkies (2013), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🌈 LGBTQ Acceptance

Avinash reveals he is gay, challenging the assumed norms of marriage and desire. Gayatri responds with openness while Dev is initially shocked, exposing a spectrum of reactions within love and social expectation. The story examines honesty, vulnerability, and the tension between private truth and public judgment, ending with irony about truth and lies.

🎬 Dreams in Cinema

Purandar's pursuit of acting and Vijay's pilgrimage to meet Amitabh Bachchan anchor the anthology in cinema's glamour and hardship. The narratives test what the dream costs in real life, and whether staying true to craft can coexist with personal happiness. The stories celebrate cinema's allure while revealing its pressures and transformative potential.

👪 Family Duty and Expectations

Vijay fulfills his late father's wish, illustrating familial duty and the costs of ambition. Avinash, Dev, and Gayatri's arcs show how family, marriage, and tradition shape identity and choices. Across the vignettes, love, loyalty, and generational values drive characters toward difficult decisions and personal growth.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:58

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Anthology Dramas with Interwoven Stories like Bombay Talkies

Multiple character stories connected by a central theme, blending hope and heartache.Discover movies like Bombay Talkies that use an anthology format to tell multiple stories connected by a central theme. These films often explore dreams, relationships, and societal pressures through different characters, creating a bittersweet and emotionally resonant tapestry similar to classic Bollywood narratives.

anthologyinterconnectedcontemplativepoignanthopefulnostalgicemotionalcharacter-driven

Narrative Summary

Narratives in this thread typically feature several distinct but thematically linked stories. They unfold in parallel or are loosely connected, often concluding with a mix of resolutions—some hopeful, some sad—that reflect the complexity of life. The structure emphasizes thematic unity over a single plotline.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared multi-story structure and bittersweet tone. They focus on character-driven moments and emotional authenticity, using the anthology format to explore a central idea from multiple angles, resulting in a nuanced and contemplative experience.

Movies about Artistic Passion and Self-Discovery like Bombay Talkies

Characters navigating societal expectations to find their authentic voice and passion.Find movies like Bombay Talkies that center on characters pursuing artistic passions against societal expectations. These dramas focus on the quiet, internal journey of self-discovery, often with a bittersweet tone and a mix of emotional hardship and hopeful resilience.

self-discoveryartistic passionfamily expectationscontemplativehopefulemotionalnostalgicresigned

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern follows a character's internal struggle between their innate desires or talents and the external pressures of family, tradition, or society. The journey is often introspective, with climaxes centered on personal revelations or small, significant acts of defiance rather than large-scale external conflicts.

Why These Movies?

These films share a core theme of identity and authenticity. They are united by a contemplative mood, a focus on personal rather than epic stakes, and a tone that acknowledges the pain of breaking norms while finding hope in self-realization.

Unlock the Full Story of Bombay Talkies

Don't stop at just watching — explore Bombay Talkies in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Bombay Talkies is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Bombay Talkies Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Bombay Talkies, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Bombay Talkies Summary

Bombay Talkies Timeline

Track the full timeline of Bombay Talkies with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Bombay Talkies Timeline

Bombay Talkies Spoiler-Free Summary

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Bombay Talkies Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Bombay Talkies

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Bombay Talkies (2013) Plot Summary & Movie Recap

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Bombay Talkies (2013) Spoiler-Free Summary & Key Flow