Fashion's 11

Moving the spotlight from a glamourous facade to the dark side of a well-known subject, and delving into its murkier depths has become the trademark of Madhur Bhandarkar (1), fetching him three national awards for best director and a plethora of accolades from critics.

Fashion, as the name suggests, is a film where he rips the haute couture business threadbare, with help from 10 other stellar performances.

However, I had much less fun watching this film, as compared to his earlier ones. The barbs are there, but the vitriol is gone.

There are much fewer caricatures of real-life personalities in the business he zooms in on this time. Most disappointing of all, the dialogue between the menial acolytes of the high and mighty--like the drivers in Page 3--is missing, except for one small conversation between a couple of security guards.

Madhur has probably mellowed with age, or made a small compromise with a world wherein he has to move around meeting people he mocked and ridiculed in his latest film. However, Fashion, like most of his earlier films, leaves you with a smile--a sardonic one as you realise that success in most such competitive businesses comes at the price of happiness.

The film portrays the glamour industry, with the camera chasing a "small town" girl Priyanka Chopra (2)--who has recently won a local beauty contest--now aspiring to becoming a supermodel. Bhandarkar could have chosen someone prettier--say Katrina--fo a movie that is all about fashion and modelling. (BTW, I didn't know Chandigarh was a small town, thanks Madhur!)

Meghana Mathur (Priyanka) moves to Mumbai, despite a protesting father, and with the help of friends like Rohit (3), a gay assistant to a famous fashion designer, and Mugdha Godse(4) (playing pretty decent role for a debut), an experienced model called Janet Sequeira, succeeds in getting a good portfolio done and then a break on the runway.

Yet, she has a long way to go to reach where people like (4) Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut in an ever-improving depiction of a manic-depressive) are--a 'show-stopper', i.e. the one who shows off the best dress in a fashion show and escorts the designer on to the ramp at the end of the show. That Shonali's role is based on the life of ex-supermodel Gitanjali Kashyap, who ended up a drug-addict and was rescued from the streets, is not lost on even the most casual viewer.

Meghana's big break comes when (5) Abhijit Sarin (Arbaaz Khan looking impressive as a fashion business tycoon) takes a liking to her, fires Shonali as the face of his brand and hires her instead.

For Shonali, as big a setback as that is, she is not prepared for the next one--a wardrobe malfunction in the next fashion show. The two blows are enough to send her reeling into a downward spiral until she finds herself on the pavement one day, cameras thrust into her face by TV channels which have just found another story they can re-run all day.

Once Meghna signs the contract for Sarin's brand, via a top modelling agency run by (6) Aneesha (Kitu Gidwani back on the screen after decades), there's no looking back, or at least that's what she thinks.

But, success has its price, and Meghana starts paying her bills. Her boyfriend (7) Maanav (Arjan Bajwa as a struggling model) doesn't like her late night partying with Sarin. So she breaks off with Maanav and Sarin moves her into an expensive flat where they can continue with the romance, leading to Meghna's pregnancy.

When Meghna realizses that she's just the latest plaything for Sarin, she rebels--with disastrous consequences. She loses her brand endorsement contract, and also the show-stopper roles. Then, it's down Shonali street, with more cigarettes, alcohol and drugs...until she wakes up in bed with a black stranger. Overcome by self-disgust, she packs up and leaves. Meghana returns to Chandigarh a silent wreck, numbed by the excesses of the glam world.

Raj Babbar, her father (8), saddened by a broken daughter, makes a U-turn and goads her into returning and retrieving the success that was rightfully hers. When Meghana returns to Mumbai, she apologises to all those she hurt when carried away by success, and they all come back to help her. Except, it is too late for love. Her boyfriend Maanav has moved on and is now engaged.

Her comeback succeeds like never before and she is cast as the show-stopper for leading designer Rohit Khanna's (9) fashion show. Rohit (played by Samir Soni), of course is gay. He has married old classmate Janet just so the Indian society stops pestering him, or more particularly his mother.

Cinematography by Mahesh Limaye (10) is just perfect for what Madhur wants to show--mostly the runway and its spectators. I was most surprised by the new dialogue writer Niranjan Iyengar (11), who has written some brilliant lines in abstract Hindi, lending a sublime touch to a film which focuses mostly on the grime, behind pretty faces and trendy clothes.

Definitely a fine Hindi film, a must for your DVD collection whenever it comes out in that format. I only hope the establishment does not surprise Madhur with a national film award for best director for this one just (like it did with Traffic Signal). From him, we expect a far more arresting film than this. May be he will do that with his next film, Jail.