`Miss Lovely`, `Gangs of Wasseypur` set stage for Hindi films at Cannes: Nawazuddin

Mumbai: Nawazuddin Siddiqui credits his films `Miss Lovely` and `Gangs of Wasseypur` for putting Hindi films on a higher pedestal at the Cannes International Film Festival and says that post their screenings movie aficionados have started taking them seriously.

`Miss Lovely`, which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes festival, will hit the Indian screens Jan 17. Speaking at a press conference on "Miss Lovely", Nawazuddin said: "Internationally, our film has been appreciated. And `Miss Lovely` and `Gangs of Wasseypur` were the first films that created a platform for future films at Cannes." "Films like `The Lunchbox`, `Monsoon Shootout` and `Bombay Talkies` were readily accepted when they went to Cannes. Cannes started to take our films seriously only after `Miss Lovely` and `Gangs Of Wasseypur`," he added. Directed by Ashim Ahluwalia, the film is based on a real incident that shook the C-grade film industry in the 1980s. "The story is based on a real incident. Something very big had happened among C-grade filmmakers at that time. It had created quite a furore," Nawazuddin said. "I can`t talk about the incident but that is the reason the film is being talked about as it shows bad phase of Bombay (filmdom)," he added. `Miss Lovely` marks the debut of Niharika Singh.