Posts Tagged ‘Miss Lovely’

Ashim Ahluwali’s Miss Lovely and Anurag Kashyap’s two-parter Gangs of Wasseypur premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard and Directors Fortnight section respectively.

This post is to track all the buzz from the Cannes – reviews, interviews, videos and more. For the Cannes buzz of Vasan Bala’s Peddlers, click here.

Starting with some generic news links.

– Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight, talks about the new wave of Indian cinema. Click here.

– VIDEO : Tom Brooks’ Cannes edition of Talking Movies starts with Indian films. Click here.

MISS LOVELY

– Review published in the Screen International is here.

– The Hollywood Reporter’s review is here, which describes it as Bollywood meets Boogie Nights in stylized retro-sleazy thriller.

– Variety’s review is here. You need account to read it. But if you are too curious, go close to the screen, squint your eyes and you will be able to read through the black screen.

– A small review in Sight and Sound is here which says the film is mesmerising for the first hour or so, during which, the echoes of Boogie Nights aside, I found myself thinking of Wong Kar-Wai, Scorsese, Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah and even Irma Vep. Unfortunately the film then palls somewhat – director Ashim Ahluwalia can’t hold onto a story, or develop characters. But while it’s good it’s very good indeed, and had it been that touch better (and shorter) it could have been a game-changer for Indian cinema.

– A french review is here which is not too complimentary. Use Google Translate (GT).

– Ahluwalia makes ‘Lovely’ impact, says Saibal Chatterjee in The Sunday Indian. Click here.

– New York Times piece on the film is here.

– Ashim’s interview in Another mag is here.

– Ad Vitam has picked up the French rights of the film. News link is here.

– VIDEO : Anupama Chopra’s interview of Ashim Ahluwalia is here.

GANGS OF WASSEYPUR

– Review in Screen International is here which says, this Tarantino-tinged Bihari take on The Godfather has what it takes to cross over from the Indian domestic and Diaspora markets to reach out to action-loving, gore-tolerant theatrical and auxiliary genre audiences worldwide.

– The Hollywood Reporter review is here which calls it a dizzying explosion of an Indian gangster film, whose epic structure and colorful, immoral killers capture the imagination for over five hours..

– Review on desi site DearCinema is here.

– In Italian. click here. Use Google Translate (GT).

– Long piece in french edition of Huffington Post is here. Use GT.

– Coverage on BBC website.

– Saibal Chatterjee’s report in The Sunday Indian is here.

– VIDEO : Anupama Chopra’s interview with Kashyap and Bala is here.

– Click on the play button to watch the official video of the screening

If we have missed any links, do post it in the comments section. We will keep on updating the post with new links.

Sorry to flood the blog with so many back to back posts on Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely. But two reasons – Cannes doesn’t happen everyday. Nor do Indian films qualify there regularly. Also, the information is coming out bit by bit.

First came the news of its selection at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. Then, the official synopsis and stills (Click here). And now the teasers of the film.

What we know – Ashim Ahluwalia’s debut feature Miss Lovely is going to Cannes in Un Certain Regard section this year. The film is set in Bombay’s B/C grade film industry and it stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh and Anil George.

What we don’t know – what does the film look like? No stills/clips/trailer available on the net so far. What’s it all about?

And so we have got it all. The official synopsis and some stills from the film.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

Bombay, 1988. Vicky and Sonu are brothers and partners in crime. They produce “C” grade films in the lower depths of Bollywood – lurid horror films, erotic bandit pictures, sleazy social dramas. From a humid one-hour hotel, amidst spilled whisky and bouts of womanizing, Vicky churns out illicit titles like “Dolly Darling” and “Lady James Bond” for India’s small-town picture houses. He leaves the donkey-work to Sonu, his withdrawn, dim-witted younger sibling, who often cleans up after him.

Returning exhausted from a sales trip peddling erotic reels in the hinterland, Sonu encounters a mysterious girl on the train and is drawn to her fragile beauty. She’s only just arrived in Bombay and her vulnerability soothes his own sense of despair. Her name is Pinky and she appears to be a struggling actress.

Vicky dismisses the girl as a gullible piece of flesh but Sonu is desperate, bewitched by Pinky’s silent radiance. He knows that only she can save him; make his emptiness disappear.

As the seasons change, Sonu begins to resent his hard-edged brother. He no longer wants toslave for Vicky’s lawless operation and decides to make a film of his own, with Pinky in the lead. A double debut – producer and star. It’s a reckless, nihilistic venture with no story and no crew in place. But he has a title – the film will be called ‘Miss Lovely’ and Sonu will do whatever it takes to make it.

But nothing is what it seems in this garish underworld of shifting alliances, double dealing, and quivering flesh. Out on the streets three years later, Sonu realizes that his whole world has turned upside down.

A baroque tale of betrayal and doomed love, the animal instincts of the struggling actress prove to be the most cutthroat of all. As paranoia and violence spiral out of control, brother turns on brother, and blood spills like water. Sonu, now alone and abandoned, aimlessly wanders the streets, junkyards and film studios, aching for one last glimpse of Pinky.

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Click here to read an interview of Ashim on the making of Miss Lovely.

Cannes film festival has just announced its list for films for competition, out of competition and Un Certain Regard category. And an Indian film has made the cut.

Ashim Ahluwalia’s debut feature film Miss Lovely has been selected in the Un certain regard section. The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh and Anil George. According to imdb, this feature is set in the lower depths of Bombay’s “C” grade film industry. It follows the devastating story of two brothers who produce sleazy horror films in the mid-1980s.

Click here to read an interview of Ashim on the making of Miss Lovely.

And click here for the complete list of the line-up announced so far.