Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala might have been well cast as the leads in Bombay, but the absolute winners there were Kitty and Nassar. I mean, those two are the ones who come to mind when thinking about this movie, though their combined screen time would hardly be one third of the movie. And to think about all these people protesting that movies these days are having plenty of Muslim men characters romancing Hindu women characters( Laxmii, Toofaan, Kalank, etc. My theory is that Bollywood is trying to show its attitude about inter-faith marriage in films as it happens in Metros- it's happening, it's nothing major, love triumphs above all, just chill and can't everyone else chill out about it too, please?) as a trend, long ago in the movie Bombay, not only was it was the other way around, but the sheer faith-blind casting was a treat to watch.
Nasser, a Muslim by faith, was great as an upper caste Tamil Shaivaite character and Kitty, an upper caste Tamil Hindu was cast as a economically-weaker section Muslim character. And wow, did they deliver as they were cast!!!! And what superior acting, that it doesn't strike you at all till much later the diabolical mind that must have known, acknowledged and thrown out on its nose, the reality of these men, just so movie magic can happen. Of course I'm talking about Mani Ratnam and his diabolical mind. He must also have known the fact they, Nasser and Kitty, were basically acting out the other's future when it came time for their real life children to marry. Lol.
