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.
| Directing | Ismail Merchant | Director |
| Camera | Vishnu Mathur | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Amit Bose | Editor |
| Sound | Ray Beckett | Sound |
| Production | Ismail Merchant | Producer |
| Production | Kareem Samar | Associate Producer |
| Production | Wahid Chowhan | Associate Producer |
| Writing | Ismail Merchant | Writer |
| Writing | James Ivory | Writer |
| Writing | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | Writer |
| Directing | Michael Fields | Assistant Director |