Bombay Velvet kicks off in 1949 when a young Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor) alights from a train which is his first tryst with Bombay. Balraj accompanied by his foster mother who seeks prostitution as a means for survival and raises Balraj under morally questionable circumstances. Young Balraj meets a local lad Chiman (Satyadeep Misra) who is a pick pocketer and soon as they turn old, Balraj and Chiman indulge smuggling for survival. Inspired by watching an English classic, Balraj becomes obsessed to become a ‘big-shot’ and this crazy aspiration of him is about to take him places. He also earns money by participating in street fights which he never wins. Just when Balraj is dreaming of becoming of bigshot, he sets eyes on Rosie (Anushka Sharma) who has an equally grave past and is new to the city where she is struggling, making up her livelihood singing in a Jazz club. It is love at first sight for the Romeo and now he has only two dreams – becoming a bigshot and having Rosie in his arms.

In an unexpected twist of fate, Balraj and Chiman meet Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar) who is a newspaper baron. It is Kaizad who gives wings to Balraj’s dreams and even names him Johnny.