What began as a documentary on illegal sex-horror films in the lower depths of Bollywood, went on to win Uncertain Regard at Cannes. Director Ashim Ahluwalia, Miss Lovely all set to release on January 17, next year, after travelling across the film circuit, throws up a formidable talent bank, Anil George, who is all set to make his niche in Bollywood with this film.
A theatre actor from new Delhi, Anil George was chanced upon by an audition by Sanjay Shah, for Miss Lovely. ThoughAnil was not sure whether he wanted to be part of the film after the initial test, Sanjay Shah seemed to think he hit paydirt. He sent the tapes to director Ashim Ahluwalia who called the actor to Mumbai.
Worried yet trusting his instincts, Anil reached Mumbai, only to meet Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Niiharika Singh. “Director Ashim wanted to see the chemistry between Niharika and me and we enacted a scene,” said Anil. “I was comfortable when I saw Nawaz, but the script completely floored me.”
Anil says the more he read the script, the more the character got closer to him. “On screen, Vickey Duggal that I essay looks negative. But to me, he is real. He is a sleaze filmmaker, with a belief that he is entertaining the masses, the rickshaw pullers and labourers, people who work so hard to earn a living. And he is ruthless in his business and loves his brother very dearly. There are so many shades to this character, that it is simply amazing.
Anil feels that he is very lucky that he got a director like Ashim. “There was so much freedom to perform. And Ashim would always be so peaceful and smile. He would encourage our actors with his words. We performed to our best even on real locations where we knew, we have to leave before people react.”
Almost all the film, says Anil George was shot on real locations by the director, “and the use of colours and contours is simply something only Ashim can conjure up.”
The most emotional moment, however for Anil is when Ashim did nto give hima single smoking scene in the film simply because he doesn’t smoke in real life. “It was so touching. The entire movie, I am a porn filmmaker who boozes and makes ‘C’ grade films and there are my ups and downs, but never have I smoked. And no one but Ashim could have still made my character look so convincing,” says an emotional Anil George, who is looking forward to the release of miss Lovely on Jan 17. “Ashim is very dear to me. He has brought me out into this world with Miss Lovely and what I am on screen is only because of his efforts.”
