Miss Lovely
Miss Lovely | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ashim Ahluwalia |
Written by | Ashim Ahluwalia Uttam Sirur |
Produced by | Shumona Goel Sanjay Shah Pinaki Chatterjee |
Starring | Nawazuddin Siddiqui Niharika Singh Menaka Lalwani Anil George Zeena Bhatia |
Cinematography | K. U. Mohanan |
Edited by | Paresh Kamdar Ashim Ahluwalia |
Music by | Ilaiyaraaja Cloudland Canyon Kip Uhlhorn |
Distributed by | Easel Films Eagle Movies |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Miss Lovely is a 2012 Indian
The stylized form, densely layered narrative, period costumes and production design simultaneously conveys a pulp style and contemporaneous modernity. Jonathan Romney of
Shot on a combination of
.Miss Lovely competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.[8][9] The film has since screened at numerous film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival[10] and International Film Festival Rotterdam.[11] Miss Lovely had release of around 300 screens in India on 17 January 2014.[12]
Cast
- Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Sonu Duggal
- Niharika Singh as Sonika/Pinky
- Anil George as Vicky Duggal
- Zeena Bhatia as Poonam
- Menaka Lalwani as Nadia Khan
- Ragesh Asthanaa as PK
- Manoj Bakshi as Heera Seherwala
Development
The project started as a
Reception
Initial reviews to Miss Lovely at Cannes were contradictory. Expecting a more mainstream film, The Hollywood Reporter noted that "Miss Lovely sets out to prove that Indian cinema can be as frustratingly opaque as a European art movie [and] succeeds rather too well."[14]
In complete contrast, Variety's Alissa Simon gave the film a glowing review, saying "Something new in Indian filmmaking, neither Bollywood nor traditional art cinema, the pic provides a unique, immersive experience...one that owes as much to docu and experimental filmmakers as to Scorsese, Welles and von Sternberg, plunging viewers into the characters' social milieu."[15]
Film Comment's Gavin Smith felt that the film was the strongest in the Un Certain Regard section writing "I hope we do hear more from Indian director Ashim Ahluwalia, whose lively, fast-and-loose Miss Lovely, about two brothers toiling in the world of Bollywood B-movie and softcore porn production in the Eighties, had an off-kilter, at times delirious first hour and then settled into a pungent story of jealousy, betrayal, and doomed love."[16]
Le Monde's Jacques Mandelbaum wrote, "Miss Lovely (is) a splendid film that invites admiration. Through this tragic story set between 1986 and 1993, Ahluwalia films the changing of an era... His direction, full of archival period films, beautifully uses the art of editing, color and off-screen space. One feels a real affection for this admittedly sordid universe, but with a magnificence that the conversion of India to the market economy will simply wipe out."
Another Magazine's Simon Jablonski reviewed the film, saying "Among all that glitters at Cannes Film Festival, there was little quite as visually spectacular as Miss Lovely, directed by Ashim Ahluwalia. In the midst of India’s moralistic and conservative codes of censorship, Miss Lovely dived into the world of the secret sex and horror C-movie scene of 80s Bombay. Constantly moving and switching between genre pieces – a gangster flick then a love story then an art house film. Stylistically it’s reminiscent of 90s Chinese cinema such as Chungking Express than anything you’d associate with the Bollywood tradition while the wonderfully extravagant costumes and sets call to mind Rainer Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears Of Petra von Kant."[18]
Indian film critic Nandini Ramnath described the film in Mint as "a universe of retro pleasures and pain, atmospheric interiors and decaying exteriors, marginal characters and forbidden dreams… The story follows, but often wanders away from, Sonu’s fallout with his brother, his attempts to go solo and his love for Pinky. Amid a hypnotic interplay of colours, tones and textures that has been shot by cinematographer Mohanan, we see Mumbai like it’s rarely been seen before… This is pre-globalized Mumbai at its most evocative and perilous. If you feel uneasy while watching the film, you’re meant to."[19]
The New York Times's Joan Dupont profiled Miss Lovely and the director Ashim Ahluwalia in a piece titled "Mumbai in the Bad Old Days"[20]
Miss Lovely has won multiple awards including Best Film in the "India Gold" category at the 14th
Awards
- National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature film)(director) – Ashim Ahluwalia
- National Film Award for Best Production Design – Ashim Ahluwalia, Tabasheer Zutshi and Parichit Paralkar
References
- ^ Kumar, Anuj (25 April 2012). "Miss Lovely in Cannes". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ a b Ashim Ahluwalia: Sleaze the day Filmfare, 27 July 2012.
- ^ a b Miss Lovely On IMDB
- ^ "I'm glad Censor board didn't ban Miss Lovely: director | NDTV Movies.com". Movies.ndtv.com. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "61st National Film Awards Announced: Live Update". Zee News. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
- ^ BFI Film Forever Indian Independence
- ^ Cine Malin Film Commentary and Criticism
- ^ "2012 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "Indian movie Miss Lovely at Cannes film fest". The Times of India. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Marissa Bronfman Huffington Post
- ^ Miss Lovely Bright Future 2013
- ^ "Archived copy". www.boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Adult thriller 'Miss Lovely' finally granted 'A' certificate – Free Press Journal". Freepressjournal.in. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (25 May 2012). "Miss Lovely: Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Simon, Alissa (26 May 2012). "Miss Lovely". Variety.
- ^ Film Society of Lincoln Center. "Festivals: Cannes 2012 | Film Comment | Film Society of Lincoln Center". Film Comment. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ^ Libertas Film Magazine Artist In Residence Aashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely
- ^ "Culture Talks – Miss Lovely, Cannes Film Festival | AnOther". Anothermag.com. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ^ Ramnath, Nandini (12 November 2012). "The Really Dirty Picture". Mint.
- ^ Dupont, Joan (25 May 2012). "Mumbai in the Bad Old Days". The New York Times.
- ^ "IBN Live". Archived from the original on 28 October 2012.
- ^ "The Hollywood Reporter".
External links
- Official website
- Miss Lovely at IMDb