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.
Directing | Ismail Merchant | Director |
Camera | Vishnu Mathur | Director of Photography |
Sound | Ray Beckett | Sound |
Writing | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | Writer |
Production | Ismail Merchant | Producer |
Writing | James Ivory | Writer |
Production | Wahid Chowhan | Associate Producer |
Production | Kareem Samar | Associate Producer |
Writing | Ismail Merchant | Writer |
Editing | Amit Bose | Editor |
Directing | Michael Fields | Assistant Director |