Fashion

Ok this is probably coming in way too late, what with both leads having won national awards, but hey whatever :-)

I must confess I have a strong prejudice against Madhur Bhandarkar movies, barring Chandni Bar. I think his movies reek of stereotypical characters and situations. They seem forced, or more suited for "shock value".

Coming to Fashion, the reasons I mentioned above contribute to some extent against it. Since the name is quite a give away - the turmoils an ambitious girl goes through in the big bad world of fashion, lets delve straight away into some character analysis of the 3 leads - Priyanka aka Meghna, Kangna aka Shonali and Mugdha aka Janet.

PChops does a decent job, is it national award worthy, now thats up for debate and stuff for another post :-). Her character's redemption lies in overcoming personal shortcomings rather than pulling off some larger than life vendetta scheme against the people who have purportedly wronged her. Makes perfect sense, her fight is with her choices not with any one in particular. This was a good takeaway for me from the movie. Hate to mention that her realization sets in with a really contrived, ridiculous incident. Thats Madhur Bhandarkar for you, you feel his touch in all the wrong places.

Raw, edgy characters have become synonymous with Kangna Ranaut, but her bastard screeching, snorting, wailing character, apparently modelled after Gitanjali Nagpal, never goes beyond these adjectives. Its an in your face character which leaves you feeling.... well nothing. Blame the character etching rather than the actress. Watch Gangster if you want the real deal from Kangna. Contrast it with Mugdha's Janet, a character that is never explored to its true potential and leaves you with a lot of unexplained questions. What about her needs, why does she do what she does....For a new comer she plays it with poignant earnestness.

On a closing note, absolutely loved the haunting strains of Mar Jawaan. Overall an ok movie, if only Madhur's movies did not set out to be a treatise on exposing the underbelly of a certain strata in society, they could achieve a lot more.