7. Miss Lovely
Miss Lovely, by Ashim Ahluwalia, is a 2012 Indian period drama set in 80s Mumbai. It is about two brothers making C-movies and adult films as the industry is facing harder censorship rules and corruption. The film also addresses the brutality filmmakers were subject to in part because of the drastic censorship. Like Knife + Heart, it is more about behind-the-scene turmoils of the 18+ films industry, where producers are basically mob boss, and it is an environment as depraved or violent as you would think it was during those “good old days.”
Miss Lovely is far from a traditional Bollywood film, and those expecting something mainstream will be, for better or worse, surprised. Yet it blends all the ingredients of classic Indian Cinema: impossible love, treachery, family tension, violence, and some dancing. But is nothing like any other movie out there as it only incorporates those flashy Bollywood style sequences to make a point of contrast with the grimmer and grounded independent drama at its core. Similarly to the aforementioned Knife + Heart, it draws its retro inspiration from sleazy horror films and trippy elements.
