Best movies like The Courtesans of Bombay

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Courtesans of Bombay Starring Saeed Jaffrey, Kareem Samar, Zohra Sehgal, and more. If you liked The Courtesans of Bombay then you may also like: The Wild Party, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon, Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, Rambling Rose, The James Dean Story and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

In the Mumbai, India, tenement community of Pavanpul, young female courtesans sing, dance and perform sexual favors for male clientele. Directors James Ivory and Ismail Merchant blend documentary footage and dramatic reenactments in their exploration of this seamy underworld, the flip side of the Bollywood film industry, where aspiring actors and dancers -- some even sold into prostitution by their own families -- end up, with their innocence lost and their hopes for movie stardom shattered.

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The Wild Party

An aging silent movie comic star throws a lavish party to try and save his failing career.

Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon

The outrageous story of 1970s porn icon Jack Wrangler, and how he rose to the top of the gay, and then straight, adult film industry.

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

Travel across four continents, through 19 countries, and into dingy Cambodian karaoke bars, Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district, Moldovan orphanages, legal Nevada brothels, and the street corners and alleyways of metropolises worldwide for more than a glance at the fastest-growing organized crime industry in the world with the groundbreaking, tell-all Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.

Rambling Rose

Rose is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Her appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and she knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.

The James Dean Story

Released two years after James Dean's death, this documentary chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews with the aunt and uncle who raised him, his paternal grandparents, a New York City cabdriver friend, the owner of his favorite Los Angeles restaurant, outtakes from East of Eden, footage of the opening night of Giant, and Dean's ironic PSA for safe driving.

The Cheetah Girls: One World

Chanel, Dorinda, and Aqua are off to India to star in a Bollywood movie. But when they discover that they will have to compete against each other to get the role in the movie, will the Cheetahs break up again?

The Company

Ensemble drama centered around a group of ballet dancers, with a focus on one young dancer who's poised to become a principal performer.

My Own Private Idaho

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

Dreamcatcher

Longinotto's documentary is about Brenda Myers-Powell, who fights against sexual exploitation and supports prostitutes in Chicago. Brenda knows what she is talking about: her own story, involving teenage prostitution and a life of violence and abuse, is in stark contrast to her dauntless energy and optimism.

Fame

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

The Fantasticks

Two rural teens sing and dance their way through a forbidden romance and a dangerous travelling carnival.

Sex and Buttered Popcorn

Actor Ned Beatty hosts a look at the genre known as "exploitation" films. Interviews with some of the producers and directors of these films are shown, along with scenes from and trailers for some of these films.

The Guru

Bored with Bollywood movies but fascinated with their Hollywood counterparts from his youth, Ram dreams to become a singer and actor in America, the country where dreams are made. He is encouraged when his American-based close friend, Vijay Rao, comes for visit, and brags about driving a Mercedes and living in a penthouse.

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl

Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

Harlow

Loosely based biography of 1930s star Jean Harlow as she begins her climb to stardom. One of two "Harlow" film biographies that appeared in 1965, this one stars Carol Lynley in the title role that begins as Jean Harlow, a bit player in Laurel and Hardy comedies, is invited to test for director Jonathan Martin for the lead in Howard Hughes's "Hell's Angels." She is an instantaneous sensation, and in a series of films devoted more to her body than her talent, she becomes Hollywood's "Platanum Blonde."

Heat and Dust

Anne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.

Malibu High

When a high school senior is dumped by her boyfriend, her grades fall drastically...to avoid failing, she begins seducing her male teachers. Thus begins her downward spiral into drug addiction and prostitution, and ultimately assassinations for a kingpin mob boss.

A Patch of Blue

A blind, uneducated white girl is befriended by a black man, who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life.

Shakespeare-Wallah

The story of a family troupe of English actors who travel around the towns and villages in India giving performances of Shakespearean plays. Through their travels we see the changing face of India as the old is replaced by the new, Maharajas become hotel owners, sports become more important than culture and the theater is replaced by Bollywood movies. Based on the travels of Geoffrey Kendal with his daughter Felicity Kendal.

The Pornographer

A socially inept man's amateur porn film wins him a contract with a small-time pornography distribution company, where he faces a series of moral crises and is forced to face his own porn addiction.

Partners in Crime

After being dismissed for imitating his boss's voice on radio, former Assistant District Attorney Richard Deming witnesses a store robbery and is taken captive by the criminals. Suspected of the crime, he is sought by the police, but his sweetheart, Marie, convinced of his innocence, enlists the help of two friends, a newspaper reporter and a half-witted detective. Hoping to win the girl's favor, the two go to the gangsters' hideout, encounter a violent gang war, and accidently set off a case of police tear bombs. The police, summoned by Marie, arrive just in time to save the kidnaped attorney.

365 Nights in Hollywood

Down-on-his-luck film director Jimmie Dale takes a job at a fly-by-night acting school. He is drawn into the plans of the school's owner to bilk a wealthy young man out of the funds he has supplied to shoot a movie starring pretty student Alice Perkins. But Jimmie hopes to bilk the bilkers by actually completing the movie as ostensibly planned.

Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes

Friends, enemies, acquaintances, and family of porn star John Holmes recall their experiences with him, from his childhood to his eventual death from AIDS in 1988.

I'm a Porn Star

I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.

A Married Couple

In this classic exploration of marriage in conflict, Billy and Antoinette Edwards—as well as their son Bogart and dog Merton—live out their daily lives. Hoping to discover the heart of the trouble in their marriage, Billy and Antoniette offer up their day to day lives to documentary filmmaker Allan King, as laughter, tears, wit, tenderness, anger, patience, pain, and sorrow ensue.

Dark Confessions

Two beautiful young women on vacation looking for fun. Two dirty cops looking for easy prey. One human auction where the rich, dominant and powerful bid for slaves to satisfy all sexual desires including lesbian submission. They have been located, framed and convinced to confess to a crime they did not commit or face a lifetime in a prison of women...now their innocence will be sold to the highest bidder.

Confessions of a Lap Dancer

An erotic melodrama about the public and private lives of sex workers. Erica is a single mother who works a stripper, and sometimes as a prostitute to support her daughter. But when the threat of losing parental rights to her child looms, Erica tries to escape from the dark world of the sex industry, but it turns out to be not so easy to do.

Faces of Death IV

Follows the same pattern of the other Faces of Death movies. In this one we see many staged and not so staged looking deaths ranging from bungee jumping accidents and magic tricks gone bad.

Hollywood Uncensored

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Peter Fonda host an examination of the history of decency standards for movies from the early 1920s onwards.

Mondo Freudo

A “hidden camera” takes the viewer on a worldwide tour of sexual practices and rituals, including Tijuana strippers, Asian sex shows, British prostitutes, New York devil worshipers and a Mexican slave market.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly Sunny is a documentary that tells the remarkable story of Sunny Leone, the Canadian-born, American-bred adult film star who is pursuing her dreams of Bollywood stardom.

Death Dancers

In his quest to hunt down a serial killer, Los Angeles cop Will goes undercover into the S&M underworld. Only by befriending the kinky denizens of the city's seamy side can he get close to the prime suspect.

Something to Sing About

James Cagney has a rare chance to show his song-and-dance-man roots in this low-budget tale of a New York bandleader struggling with a Hollywood studio boss.

Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood

After watching a True Hollywood Stories-type documentary in which he is considered a forgotten star, Johnny Bravo travels to Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India, to prove himself he is still popular, confusing Bollywood, India, with Hollywood and Indiana respectively.

Sanju

Sanju explores some of the most crucial chapters from movie star Sanjay Dutt’s dramatic and controversial real life. It gives a lowdown on his tryst with drugs and his trials and tribulations in the Arms Acts case and the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

E.M. Forster: His Longest Journey

A film about the life of A Passage to India author EM Forster, following his huge growth as a writer and the twists and turns of his personal life.

Marigold

Marigold Lexton, an American actress who gets stranded in Mumbai and lands a minor role in a Bollywood musical. She meets Prem, the film's choreographer, and undergoes a personal transformation as she experiences Bollywood firsthand.

The Householder

Follows the fortunes of a young teacher, Prem, who isn't ready to take on the responsibilities of his arranged marriage.

Dill Scallion

Dill Scallion is a school bus driver who dreams of becoming a famous country music singer. He sings from his heart and makes up his own dance, the "Scallion Shuffle". But fame is fickle and Dill falls from the spotlight faster than he rose to stardom - all in one summer. His hits include "You Shared You" and "I found love at the Family Reunion." Sheryl Crow contributes an original score and Dill Scallion and the Dillionaires perform all songs in the movie. Star Studded cast. Hilarious and sly humor.

Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars

In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.

Surviving Mumbai

Survivors of the Mumbai terrorist attacks tell the inside story of the actions and decisions that helped save their lives.

Bollywood and Beyond: A Century of Indian Cinema

Indian cinema has the largest audience of any art form on the planet. With a population of over a billion, India has recently enjoyed an economic boom and its movie stars are treated like deities. Today their fame stretches across the diaspora, in what has become a truly global industry. As Indian cinema celebrates its centenary, Sanjeev Bhaskar travels across the subcontinent to get under the skin of the Indian movie business as never before. From young hopefuls in the slums of Mumbai to superstars like Kareena Kapoor and Aamir Khan, he meets the stars of the silver screen and the people behind the scenes - legendary producers, directors, musicians and choreographers - exploring the stories behind some of the greatest films ever made.

The Wandering Company

Documentary about Merchant Ivory Productions, including interviews with the principals of the film production company and actors which have appeared in their films.

Sold

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. When the Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's father says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution...

Bombay Talkie

An English novelist travels to Bombay to watch one of her novels translated to film. She chases after the movie's leading man while the screenwriter chases after her.

Sing While You Dance

Susan Kent, hoping to establish herself as a song-plugger, tries to obtain a second song from a young songwriter, Johnny Crane, after his first song becomes a hit. While pursuing her objective, she falls in love with Johnny, and lands in jail, but she acquires the song, the job, and Johnny.

Bread

Bread is a socially engaged drama which follows the fate of a woman struggling to pull herself out of poverty as she’s ruthlessly exploited by a string of men.

Love, Marilyn

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

The Age of Stupid

The Age of Stupid is the new movie from Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and producer John Battsek (One Day In September). Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

Merchant Ivory

Merchant Ivory is the longest running partnership in the history of cinema. As a film production entity, Merchant Ivory was founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their time together they made 43 films.

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