In her review of Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet, film critic Anupama Chopra said, "Ranbir Kapoor is superb as the volatile, desperate and dangerous Johnny Balraj; Anushka Sharma is compellingly tragic, but the surprise here is Karan Johar as the scheming, lusting businessman Kaizad Khambatta. However, the narrative moves so abruptly that none of the characters are allowed to develop." She gave the film 2.5 stars.