Rent The Courtesans of Bombay (1983)
3.4 of 5 from 47 ratings
1h 10min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Intriguing, colourful and revealing, 'The Courtesans of Bombay' is Merchant Ivory's docu-drama about Pavan Pool, the enclosed area where the city's singing and dancing courtesans play their trade. It presents a portrait of a unique location both exotic and tawdry: crammed tenements housing thousands of men playing up to the camera as they seek out forbidden pleasures - and the courtesans themselves, who appear more as entertainers than sex workers. It shows how young girls are groomed in the arts of singing, dancing and, by inference, seduction. Yet 'The Courtesans of Bombay' is neither sensationalist. nor prurient, and is as much about a tradition with a special place in Indian society. That tradition is the entertainment of paying customers - always men - by songstresses and dancers who perform in the classical Hindustani styles of the ancient 'nautch' girls: India's version of the Japanese geisha. - Actors:
- Saeed Jaffrey, Zohra Sehgal, Kareem Samar
- Directors:
- Ismail Merchant
- Producers:
- Ismail Merchant
- Writers:
- Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Studio:
- Odyssey Quest
- Genres:
- Documentary, Drama, Music & Musicals, Performing Arts, Special Interest
- Collections:
- Top 10 Best Last Films: World Cinema
