Bollywood is renowned for its portrayal of love

They focus on a serial bombing, a notorious rape and the life of a hard-hitting police official.

Director Anurag Kashyap is making a film called Black Friday about a string of bomb blasts that killed more than 300 people in 1993.

"The movie is a realistic approach without the fancy frills of songs and romance," he said.

"The bomb blasts will be focus of the movie and the characters will be referred to by the actual names and not fictionalised."

Fellow director Mehul Kumar is filming the horrific story of the rape of a deaf and mute minor in a Bombay train as witnesses looked on.

The film, titled Jaago (Wake Up), stars Raveena Tandon, Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Kapoor.

Producer-director Ram Gopal Varma is planning a movie on Bombay police chief Daya Nayak, responsible for killing several dreaded gangsters.

Industry watchers say the seamier side of India's film capital has always been a source of inspiration for film-makers.

Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay revealed the wretched lives of the city's young street inhabitants, while Dharavi told the story of Asia's largest slum.