Miss Lovely Review

One Line Review: The story of the dark under alleys of the world of 80s adult cinema, captured intricately and accurately, bringing the audiences in a wholly different co-existing reality.

Positive Points: Realistic cinematography, Well defined script, Well coordinated direction, Accurate depiction of the 80s urban scenario, Strong and genuine performances.

Negative Points: The storyline doesn't gain a definite direction.

Plot: The film is set in the 80s, depicting the dark and filthy world of the horror themed adult cinema of the time. Sonu (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Vicky (Anil George) are brothers who are involved in the making of C grade cinemas in Mumbai. Now both the brothers decide to distribute the cinema themselves rather than go for the distributor. After a failed attempt, they are confronted by their distributor, who beats up Vicky for this perceived insolence.

On one hand, when Vicky is trying to make his adult movie production big and widespread, he is in search of new faces (or rather bodies) to do the dirty work on the film and at the same time, he has to ensure that he stays in the good books of the producers and distributors who are nothing more than rich arrogant thugs who usually resort to violence if he fails to deliver what they expect. On one hand, when the brothers are constantly being pushed by situations, they have to ensure that they don't get arrested and incarcerated by the authorities.

However, amidst of all the chaos and glamour, Sonu is thinking of starting his own C grade film company and tries to get things done by stealing his brother's money and seeking help from a cast manager to part his ways. This is partly because he thinks he is not respected by Vicky as an equal in the business.

Then one day, Sonu meets Pinky (Niharika Singh), who is looking for work in the cinema. Soon after a few instances of interaction and meetings, they fall in love. Sonu promises Pinky that he will be making a film of his own, 'Miss Lovely', where he will offer her the lead title role. However, Pinky a.k.a Sonalika is already an acquaintance of Vicky and has a dark past. She occasionally comes across Vicky and to her discomfort is confronted by him.

With the arrival of Pinky, their lives take a wrong turn and finally lead to what both of them had always dreaded.

Direction And Other Technical Aspects: It won't be wrong to say that this film will be considered one of the well directed ones in the list of parallel cinema of this decade. The film's direction is so detailed and intricate that it perfectly captures the world of 80s adult cinema, in the backdrop of the time's urban scenario and the unrefined and vulgar underbelly lingo of all the characters involved. Especially when it shows the shooting of the adult films, one would certainly get the feeling 'Ha! This is how it used to be'.

Not only for the adult movie shooting part, but the settings of the overall time period and the C grade industry are depicted so accurately, from the dust laden tables to the disorderliness, from the moral hypocrisy to the dark realities, from the old gadgets to the air of unsophistication in the surroundings peppered by frustration and uncertainty, there are no words to explain the accuracy.

The impressive direction goes hand in hand with the realistic cinematography where the camera angles and focus add an element of realism and maturity to the overall plot.

The script is also well coordinated in a way that the scenes fit rightly in the backdrop of the events taking place in the lives of the filmmakers.

Performances: Another biggest asset of this film is the performances delivered by all the characters. Nawazuddin Siddiqui succeeds to capture the personality of an introvert, but assertive and somewhat hesitant young man who holds his own ambition to be a filmmaker in the industry. Anil George, who plays Siddiqui's elder brother, carries his role well as a risk taker, who despite of repeated confrontations is not ready to back down.

Niharika Singh's performance was good, but wasn't so impressive. On the other hand, it would be wrong if the peripheral characters are not credited for their impressive performances. The body language, the vulgar underbelly lingo, their reactions, all fit perfectly in the central theme of this film.

Music: Given that this is not your typical commercial film, you cannot expect songs as usual. The songs in the film are those that are played or sung in bars, parties or in a karaoke. However, they too play a significant role in creating the atmosphere of the glamour, glitz and the adult themed parties of these folks.

Final verdict: 'Miss Lovely' certainly fares excellent in overall quality through two crucial instruments namely, detailed and accurate depictions and an impressive direction coupled with realistic cinematography. The film, as mentioned earlier aptly captures each and every minor detail of the atmosphere of the given social surroundings, with performances adding an effective energy to the film. If you are looking for quality parallel cinema, it would be better to add this film into your list.