Review: Fashion

Fashion is eminently watchable, but is also more pretentious than the industry it tries to ‘expose’
Originally published on NOWRUNNING.COM

I have to confess that Madhur Bhandarkar’s latest feature has left me with strangely mixed feelings. While Bhandarkar’s hard-hitting, but often tacky filmmaking style acquires a much needed layer of polish, all the gloss on display also somehow results in Fashion being a far less moving, affecting or even unsettling watch when compared to his earlier body of work. Though a far better film than the shoddy and crude Traffic Signal, it grips for the most part but totally fails to touch you deeply.

Fashion tells the story of Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra), an aspiring model from Chandigarh who comes to Mumbai to make it big in the glamorous field. She is naïve, but also tremendously ambitious- in a scene, when asked if she wants to become a model, she confidently asserts: ‘Model nahi, Supermodel’. (Not just a model, a Supermodel.) The film follows her ascent to fame and success as she becomes a ‘Supermodel’, transforming from a timid, innocent girl to an arrogant, street-smart woman, almost a manipulative shrew, and then her consequent fall from (dis)grace.

Kangana Ranaut plays Shonali Gujral, the edgy and unhinged reigning ’showstopper’ supermodel who is usurped by Meghna, and sinks deeper and deeper into a hellhole of self destruction, while debutante actress Mughda Godse plays Janet Sequeira, the tough minded but good hearted ‘B-grade’ model who’s been-there-done-that but not quite tasted success. While their characters are pivotal to the script, Bhandarkar makes it amply clear that this is Chopra’s film, and she grabs all the film’s screen time and attention.

As a result, Ranaut’s character is given particularly short shrift, as she remains a sketchy picture, mostly reduced to a showcase for Bhandarkar’s typical real life ‘inspirations’ (Join the dots: wardrobe malfunction, drug addiction). Ranaut can’t rise above these huge limitations that the script saddles her with, but to her credit, she still manages to evoke pathos and once in a while, we do see her natural talent shining through. Godse on the other hand plays her character with assured confidence and grace, and comes off as rather impressive for a first-timer.

Some of the problems with most of Bhandarkar’s films remain: Despite all the research, the film’s portrayal of the Fashion industry is often simplistic and over the top, and is far for completely convincing- in fact even the lead character hardly seems to be ’struggling’ her way to the top. Bhandarkar is also guilty of cramming clichés into the script as he can’t quite resist making Fashion an ‘exposé’ on the industry, and his so-called ‘revelations’ are mostly tired and silly. Besides, the script is sadly bereft of any strong tension or drama, and in a story like this, this is disappointing indeed. However, Bhandarkar does avoid being judgmental (at least overtly) in the film on various issues, and it is refreshing that the characters are not portrayed as victims of circumstances and exploitation, but of their own conscious choices and reckless ambition. The supporting cast also performs admirably, and holds the film together well; though the relationships are not as well defined as in Page 3 and the gay stereotypes do begin to grate quite often.

The buck of course, stops at Priyanka Chopra, and she turns in a solid performance that is definitely her best so far. She holds the screen and our attention and goes through her character graph with spunk, and lends empathy to her character. Right from the body language and the weight gain/loss, she has clearly given the film her all, but Chopra fails to translate the kind of raw viscerality onscreen that makes a truly great performance. The film drags in the second half and the actress can’t prevent you from yawning as Fashion teeters painfully towards its (nicely done) dramatic climax.

But for all I may complain about Bhandarkar, his brand of cinema or his latest film, you have to give it to him- he has made yet another commercial yet uncompromisingly woman-oriented film, and turned that dreaded ‘feminist’ genre into a successful line of films. And even if nothing else, for making films about women and managing to pull the crowds to actually see them, I grudgingly doff my hat to you, Mr. Bhandarkar.