Film Review - Miss Lovely

Melancholic Ecstasy

Film: Miss Lovely

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddique, Anil George, Niharika Singh

Directed by: Ashim Ahluwalia

Duration: 1 hr 53 mins

Rating: *  *  *

Long before DVD’s, internet, streaming and torrents came on the scene, people used to throng the theatres to watch soft porn flicks. The trend still continues in many cities but the scale has reduced drastically. 

Director Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely is a tribute to those seedy B and C grade films that were made and screened in shady theatres. It premiered at Cannes in 2012 and after a considerably long wait, it has finally hit in the screens here.

Whether you watched those B grade films or not is a different story but surely everyone who was around during that period must be aware of them that stood out for their titles as well – Pyaasi Nigahen, Khooni Panja, Woh Bhayanak Raat. There were also films which had a ‘story’ and ‘plot’ but suddenly an X rated scene was inserted out of the blue, which had no connection with the film, pretty much like many a present day item number songs.

Set in the late 80’s, 1988 to be precise, the main protagonist here is Sonu Duggal (Nawazuddin Siddique), his elder brother Vicky (Anil George) is a film maker of soft core porn. Sonu is very much his partner but some what reluctantly. The films mostly have horror and sleaze and duo arrange for the ‘actors’, the shoot and then hand it over to distributors.  

Sonu usually follows his brother’s orders and does all the errands but he wants get out of this business and to do something different, a romantic film perhaps. Vicky meanwhile is having an affair with an actress who gets bitten by the jealousy bug when he sets his eyes on a newcomer, Nadia. 

Sonu meanwhile falls truly madly and deeply in love with Pinky (Niharika Singh) who is trying to establish her acting career. He wants to make romantic film with her titled Miss Lovely and even gets himself in a spot of bother to fulfill that ambition.  But it all falls apart after the police crackdown on this ‘industry’ arresting anyone associated with it.

The film strikes a chord with the mood that it sets. K.U. Mohanan’s cinematography brilliantly captures the sleaze and the underbelly of Mumbai. Where words are not enough, the visuals also try to tell a story. It falters at times especially when very little happens in the fast half and then moves to fast forward mode towards the end. 

Beyond the film business there is also the story of the man who is trying to break free of the rut. But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t break free. 

Anil George may not be a well known name but as the Sonu’s elder brother he makes the cut. Nawazuddin Siddique has already carved a niche for himself and here, he has added so much more to his character than perhaps what the screenplay suggested.

For those who like discerning cinema, Miss Lovely beckons you to the theatre. 

(Published in The Navhind Times on  19th Jan 2014)

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