Miss Lovely
Year: 2014
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh

The B- and C- grade Hindi horror films of the 80s were made by a particular set of film-makers (Have you forgotten Ramsay brothers?). These lowly films, which served a patented cocktail of fanged, furry monster villains, damsels in distress (and in skimpy clothes!) and plenty of titillating scenes had a loyal audience and thus made good money. Apparently under the guise of the horror show, the makers of these films were also running a parallel soft porn film industry. The films made under that category were distributed by shady operators and shown in small, seedy joints. It was a world within the world; a world about which the outside world knew precious little.

Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely takes us deep into that unknown territory. Showcased in Cannes festival in 2012, this film has been finally released theatrically in 2014.

What’s the plot?

The film tells us a story of two brothers. The elder one (Anil George) is a successful horror-film director, who is making good money through his crude cinematic ventures; shamelessly living off an old actress’s money; happily bedding young girls trying to gain a foothold in films and coolly collaborating with lecherous, moneyed producers.

The younger brother (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is serving as his Man Friday, an all-purpose hand who is given a multitude of tasks from getting ‘actors’ on ‘set’; ‘directing’ sex-scenes and distributing illegal films. He is a reluctant participant in these proceedings; always dreaming to escape from this life and starting something new on his own. Then he falls in love with a young starlet (Niharika Singh), working as a dancer in the extras. Swept off his feet by her innocent persona, he steals money from his elder brother and offers it her to launch a film. But unknown to him, fate is playing its own game. The thriving underground sex-horror film business is about to be busted by the police. The masks are about to come off. Will the already bitter sibling rivalry turn into something more sinister in the wake of these new developments? Will these twisted lives ever get a chance for redemption?

What’s hot?

·         Writer-director-cinematographer Ashim Ahluwalia captures the working of the C-grade sex-horror film industry in graphic detail. He had actually wanted to make a documentary on this topic. But when a circle of silence from the key figures put paid to those aspirations, he took the next best option and turned his researched script into a fictional film. A superb film it is!

·         The eighties feel is convincing. The extreme close-ups and hand-held camera work almost takes you right there into the thick of the things. The makeshift sets, the third-rate participants, the late night parties and the exploitative eco-system…everything comes alive on screen.

·         Nawazuddin Siddiqui once again proves what a fine actor he is. A helpless man caught up in unwanted circumstances;  an angry brother not able to see eye to eye with his elder sibling; a hopeless romantic willing to go to any extent for the girl he loves---he portrays the entire gamut of emotions so well.

·         Niharika Singh playing the starlet at the eye of the storm; Anil George playing the ambitious big brother with no moral inhibitions and Zeena Bhatia playing the old, washed out actress, are pretty good in their portrayals. The rest of the cast- comprising of mostly new or unknown names, also does a wonderful job.

What’s not?

·         The central theme, the language and the on-screen happenings are not cut out for the squeamish or prudish or for that matter, anyone expecting a typical song-and-dance Bollywood fare!

Verdict

Miss Lovely is a tough film made on a tough topic. It shakes us to the core by showing a slice of life, far removed from the daily mainstream grind. The ugly, murky world behind the gloss and glamour of film industry has found its expressions earlier in films such as Dirty Picture but Miss Lovely is a far more potent and realistic take on that theme.

See it only if you like watching out of the way films on unusual themes. Be prepared to be shocked. It is shocking but it is also gripping till the end!

Rating

4 out of 5