Portland Public Library

The courtesans of Bombay, Merchant Ivory Productions presents ; a film made by Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ; produced and directed by Ismail Merchant ; a Merchant Ivory production for Channel 4

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videorecording

The courtesans of Bombay

58996230

Merchant Ivory Productions presents ; a film made by Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ; produced and directed by Ismail Merchant ; a Merchant Ivory production for Channel 4

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The Merchant Ivory collection

A docudrama about " ... Pavan Pool, the enclosed area of Bombay where the city's singing and dancing courtesans ply 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. Neither sensationalist or prurient, the film is about a tradition with a special place in Indian society : 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"--Container

live action