The Courtesans of Bombay

(1983)

★ 5.5 IMDb · 6 votes

Genres: Documentary

Year: 1983

Runtime: 74 мин

Country: United Kingdom

Director: Ismail Merchant

Cast: Saeed Jaffrey, Kareem Samar, Zohra Sehgal

Plot

In the Mumbai, India, tenement community of Pavanpul, young female courtesans sing, dance and perform sexual favors for male clientele. Directors James Ivory and Ismail Merchant blend documentary footage and dramatic reenactments in their exploration of this seamy underworld, the flip side of the Bollywood film industry, where aspiring actors and dancers -- some even sold into prostitution by their own families -- end up, with their innocence lost and their hopes for movie stardom shattered.