The Courtesans of Bombay

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 at the worlds oldest profession by night. It was broadcast by Channelin the UK in January 1983 and went into limited theatrical release in the United States onMarch 1986.

Kareem Samar, Saeed Jaffrey, and Zohra Sehgal are professional actors who interact with actual inhabitants of the area. Samar portrays a rent collector representing a landlord who was a friend of Merchant and approved the project. Jaffreys role is that of an actor whose infatuation with one of the dancers becomes an obsession, and Segal is a retired courtesan who recalls her earlier life when her aunt arranged for her care by a wealthy benefactor.Walter Goodman of The New York Times called the film a fascinating 73 minutes of sociology, human interest and exotic entertainment and added, As we become accustomed to the unfamiliar music, its easy to get caught up in the show and forget the exploitation. The amplehipped dancers move with abounding confidence in their own sexuality, and whether their somewhat dissolutelooking allmale audience is stirred by their performances or by the prospects for closer contact later does not much matter. ........

Source: Wikipedia