Nawazuddin Siddiqui credits his films "Miss Lovely" and "Gangs of Wasseypur" for putting Hindi films on a higher pedestal at the Cannes International Film Festival and says that post their screenings movie aficionados have started taking them seriously.
"Miss Lovely", which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes festival, will hit the Indian screens Jan 17.
Speaking at a press conference on "Miss Lovely", Nawazuddin said: "Internationally, our film has been appreciated. And 'Miss Lovely' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur' were the first films that created a platform for future films at Cannes."
"Films like 'The Lunchbox', 'Monsoon Shootout' and 'Bombay Talkies' were readily accepted when they went to Cannes. Cannes started to take our films seriously only after 'Miss Lovely' and 'Gangs Of Wasseypur'," he added.
Directed by Ashim Ahluwalia, the film is based on a real incident that shook the C-grade film industry in the 1980s.
"The story is based on a real incident. Something very big had happened among C-grade filmmakers at that time. It had created quite a furore," Nawazuddin said.
"I can't talk about the incident but that is the reason the film is being talked about as it shows bad phase of Bombay (filmdom)," he added.
"Miss Lovely" marks the debut of Niharika Singh.