Ugly is as ugly does, and ugliness is everywhere in Anurag Kashyap's new film, which opens the 14th-annual New York Indian Film Festival on Monday. With "Ugly," part of last year's Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, Mr. Kashyap, an 'interesting if uneven director, delivers a damning, noirish tale about the corruption that comes after a 10-year-old girl's kidnapping.

There's a cruel twist, but Mr. Kashyap doesn't neglect the comedy of class and aspiration that has become such a fertile topic for Indian filmmakers. In one scene, the father of the kidnapped girl explains to an incredulous police officer how it is that his daughter's iPhone can show his picture and "Papa calling" when he calls her. Ridiculous, insists the cop.

This year's festival also includes a tribute to the British director Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It Like Beckham," ) and a closing film, “Goynar Baksho,” by the distinguished Bengali director Aparna Sen. (Opening- and closing-night films at the Skirball Center; all other screenings, Village East Cinema, Second Avenue at 12th Street; iaac.us/nyiff2014.)