Miss Lovely (2014) - Drama

This movie had been a part of my “To be seen” list for almost a year – finally I get to see it today but unfortunately it turns out to be such an underwhelming affair for me. Barring Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s earnest performance, the movie had hardly anything new to offer something that we haven’t seen in its earlier counterparts. The only difference I could think of was that this one is based on the so called C Grade Film Industry which exists (still) in the underbelly of big bad Bollywood. Why someone will make a movie on that industry? Because other accomplished Directors have already made a couple of fantastic movies on their counterparts and have achieved quite an acclaim not so long ago – is the only reason I could think of. Right from the very start it has that been there done that feel to it. I could very well gel and understand the feelings / frustration of the protagonist Sonu Duggal (Nawaz almost always does justice to the character he plays) as he struggles to make a meaningful movie and get out of the shit he was neck deep with his brother Vicky Duggal (Another damn good character played by Anil George). He comes across a beautiful girl Pinky (Niharika Singh) with whom he plans / dreams of making a love story called “Miss Lovely”. What happens next is the rest of the drama – where almost everyone betrays everyone else for which this industry and almost all other existent are anyways famous for. It’s heartening to see how it ends, although predictable but still it makes its impact on the audience. Nawaz is such a damn good guy that I just can’t stop praising him, may it be his innocent looks, those deeply painful eyes, his feelings for the girl, big dreams in his eyes or that solid expressions even after his failure. Watch out for one particular scene where almost towards the end of the movie he meets an old friend working as a travel agent – the way he stuffs three biscuits in his mouth and gulps down the tea – is totally out of this world experience. It isn’t easy to make a period drama and not do goof-ups, this one wonderfully captures the Bombay of late 80s and barring a very few ignorable mistakes passes with flying colors. I will still rate it a very average 3/5 for what it offers in terms of quality and quantity – still it’s worth one damn good watch. Not to be missed by meaningful cinema lovers. I will definitely watch it again for its three leads and their superb performances but it isn’t what I expected. That said I am going to keep a keen eye open for Ashim Ahluwalia’s next movie for sure.