The Courtesans of Bombay (1983)
- Directed by
- Ismail Merchant
- Genre
- documentary film, drama film
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Runtime
- 1h 14m
- Rating
- 5.5 of 10 from 6 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A docudrama that observes the daily lives of women in a Bombay compound. By day they dance for male audiences and by night they are suggested to work as prostitutes.
observationalrestrainedatmosphericintimateunhurriedunderstatedevocativesomber
What happens
The Courtesans of Bombay is a 1983 British docudrama directed by Ismail Merchant. A collaboration by Merchant, James Ivory, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film focuses on a Bombay compound known as Pavan Pool, where women aspiring to work in the entertainment industry dance for donations from a male audience by day and, it is broadly suggested although never specifically stated, work as prostitutes by night. It was broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK in January 1983 and went into limited theatrical release in the United States on 19 March 1986. Merchant was aware of the courtesans (tawaifs) at an early age "from the visits from them we used to have during weddings at home, celebrations of childbirth, and other festivities. They provided the entertainment of singing and dancing, and I used to watch them." His first visit to Pavan Pool at the age of sixteen left him with a vivid memory that inspired him to record the activities and experiences of the courtesans on film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
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Naseema (1983)
Kaikeyi (1983)
Marx-Familie (1983)
Sadma (1983)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.