Miss Lovely (2014)

I have so often come across unknown films which have a unique superlative buzz going for them. For example people from the film festival circuit rave about it and that odd critic would announce that it is a never before made film. You would have never heard about these movies in the mainstream but its content, cast and style would definitely attract you. You go on IMDb and those odd 15 user reviews would be calling it a landmark film. Unfortunately when you actually catch the film you are going to be disappointed and you will wonder did I miss something here or did my movie get hype killed. Miss Lovely completely belongs to that category. It's a sweaty, fuzzy look at the C-grade porn / horror industry of the mid-eighties in India. Apparently there were a set of people who made these kinds of movies, wore Hawaiian shirts like Miami gangsters and smoked quite a bit of cigarette and drank cheap liquor. The story is about two brothers who are into making C-grade horror/porn movies. They deal with some real Mafioso type guys who are constantly abusing and beating up the elder brother for no apparent reason. Soon the younger one gets smitten by a random dimple cheeked girl and decides to make a movie with her. This leads to further complications and a devastating end.Unfortunately in spite of having a very interesting premise and an absolutely incredible cast Miss Lovely suffers from the art for the sake of art syndrome. It is slow, plodding, its camera shots though exquisite linger on for no end, its script is really not explained properly and its core message lost in a mess of multi-layered narrative which can't seem to decide whether it is a documentary or a movie. So if the so called New York educated director Ashim Ahluwalia wants to show that these C-grade movies are shot at the dead of the night, he will first show a 15 second still shot of an empty Mumbai road and only then cut to a bunch of sweaty people shooting the film in a dingy room. Some people will smoke cigarettes. Some will spew curse words. Some would simply stand in chaotic arrangements looking sleazy. A woman with too much make up would wither on bed.Soon the movie will cut to the next scene leaving you to wonder what the point of the previous scene was. This scene will have the camera linger for 15 seconds on a man waiting to be let in a dingy room and then eventually the man will be let in and have an unimportant conversation with a random sweaty character. For some reason the director expects film watchers to get excited with this kind of drivel. Why? Simply because no one has done it before On the upside, the camera angles are up close and personal which gives the film a chaotic in your face look. I was breathing hard to simply catch a wide angle shot half way in the film which is a significant achievement for the makers as I guess as the style mirrors the suffocating, dirty and chaotic world the characters inhabit. The production design is plain brilliant and kept me occupied when I would completely lose interest in the film's story (which was at least 10 times during the movie). Ultimately though, Miss lovely is a sad piece of cinema and by sad I don't mean as in story but it being a poor piece of filmmaking. There is so much wastage of time that the film's pace never really picks up. The action of the actors makes no sense because the director does not really even attempt to explain what is happening in the film. Key incidents are sprayed sporadically across the film. Somebody dies; the police catch our protagonists and beat them up for no reason. A bunch of people shoot a C-grade movie and a woman takes her clothes off and then the scene cuts to another shot. You are basically watching a random set of very well shot scenes which really never come together as a whole. I have often seen films from Asia getting undue attention just because they showcase things the west has not seen before. Whether these films actually merit appreciation is another matter. Miss Lovely is similar. Oh wow, a film on the C-grade Indian film industry which is not Bollywood and it looks authentic ….oooh how exotic. Of course the complete lack of a coherent storyline, poor pace and a screwed up narrative completely kills Miss Lovely and the reviewers seem to overlook that.I guess I would have enjoyed it more as a documentary but then the film never really explores even that in detail either. There is a long haired sleazy director or for that matter a midget producer who comes and goes, it would have been exciting to hear their back stories or their characters to play a role in the film. Unfortunately instead of utilizing these well played out characters the film is busy trying to be a thriller. Of course, since it is made for a western audience Ahluwalia can't just help and slip in a song and dance sequence and there is an old Biddu / Nazia Hassan song rehashed in a beautifully shot but unrealistic sequence towards the end of the film.Ahluwalia might have tremendous talent and am sure if he chooses to make another film I might try to catch it just for the way he frames a scene but I hope he realizes with Miss Lovely that a script, narrative and pace are equally important.Till then, I would recommend to give a miss to Miss Lovely especially for anyone who values time and good cinema.

Miss Lovely is a baring tale of two brothers as producers in the C-grade Hindi film industry. The story portrays the relationship between the two brothers, intertwined in a love story with the backdrop of the pornographic film industry. Nawaz is probably the best thing that has happened to Hindi cinema and he does a commendable performance in playing the shy, vulnerable brother. His character along with the other characters keep the story moving. Anil George as the bully big brother and Niharika Singh as the innocent, naive girl too have given great performances in the movie and kept to their characters well. Each character was well cast which made the story even more interesting. There is no moment of boredom which makes the movie watchable till the end. You would probably associate this movie with "Boogie Nights" where the director Ashim takes you to a whole new different world, showing us the real picture of the pornographic industry through the characters. I would definitely recommend this movie to all the viewers.

A lot better than any other genre of this movie. If you can portray so much reality in a movie, then the movie maker is really outstanding. Reality in looks, in language, in expressions, in problems and their solutions. Reality can be more felt when someone is really from these regions of the world.The kind of tension and awkwardness that is shown can be generally felt in these regions.Most importantly I liked the posters of the film. They are like I am seeing the covers of 60s and 70s...I was first alerted of this movie by the sheer waves it was making in the Cannes Film Festival, and for the very obvious reason that it featured the hugely talented maverick director, Ashim Ahluwalia, but after they won the award i was not surprised with the results.

The film has a good story along with good performances which is the first reason to watch the film. To keep the viewer engaged, the film has a lot of twists till the end. I would not consider this film in any genre but it definitely has so many instances when you will praise the director for his witticism.There are many instances like this which gives you authentic feel of India. The portrayal of the ladies in those days was just perfect. The way that the film involved us in their film activities was something not usual in Indian Films. Coming to the characters, I got attached with Nawajuddin Shiddiki much more than Niharika Singh. All the supporting cast performed extremely well.