'Miss Lovely' is not a C grade film: Ashim Ahluwalia

Mumbai: Director Ashim Ahluwalia, whose film 'Miss Lovely' has been granted 'A' certificate by the Censor Board, insists it is not a C-grade a film.

The film follows Vicky and Sonu Duggal, played by Anil George and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, two brothers struggling to produce illegal sex-horror films in the mid 1980s. It explores the intense and mutually destructive relationship between the Duggal brothers and a struggling actress Pinky, played by Niharika Singh, a former Miss India contestant. "It took me one year or so to get this passed without more cuts. We went through lot of review (meetings). It started with 157 cuts. I said we can't show the film, it kills it. I argued again, then foul language was a problem. So with every review the cuts kept reducing. Finally we were down with three-four major cuts." "It is not a family entertainer film, it is a film about gritty Bombay...Gritty Bollywood," Ashim told reporters here last evening. "This is not the kind of space that we usually depict in our films but I am happy that they passed it. I am happy that the censor board didn't ban it and, instead, eventually opted to grant it very few cuts," he said. 'Miss Lovely' won the Best Film Award at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival, Best Feature Film Award at the 11th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was the official selection of Un Certain Regard in Cannes Film Festival. "When I approached people (actors) with this script they felt it was a C grade film. I had approached lot of actresses for this film. I needed actors who understood this kind of film, script and space. It was not a C grade film and not a traditional Bollywood film but something different. When I approached Niharika and she said yes, I kept asking her are you ok with the subject matter, do your parents know about it," Ashim said. Nawazuddin, who has given acclaimed performances in films like 'Kahaani', 'Talaash' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur', is not nervous but excited about the film. "It is a good film and there are quite a few people who have liked the film and appreciated it," Nawazuddin said.