Once in a while an Indian film comes, that knocks it out of the park. In fact, Gitanjali Rao's dazzling, debut animation feature, Bombay Rose, coolly tosses a grenade at the Bollywood movie formula and sashays off. After opening the International Film Critics' Week at the Venice Film Festival, it goes to the Toronto Film Festival, and is assured a long festival and arthouse life. Deservedly so. This India-UK-France-Qatar co-production is a six-year labour of love. Indian animation is largely stuck between tacky mythological or cutesy kiddie stuff. But, Bombay Rose takes Indian animation to dizzy heights.

At the simplest level, Bombay Rose is the love story between Kamala (voiced by Cyli Khare) and Salim (Amit Deondi), two flower sellers on the streets of Bombay; then it links multiple characters via red roses. But the film is shot with intelligence, and a sharp awareness of socio-political events in Bombay and India. Its rich subtext includes several issues, including communal relations, migrants, same-sex love and child labour. And it's a love letter to Bombay, warts and all, its working-class culture, inclusive Hindu, Muslim, Christian DNA, dance bars, a villainish hero (Raja) Khan (voiced by Anurag Kashyap), who drives over a pedestrian, killing him, and the interconnectedness of life.