Fashion Review : 4.5/5 : A must watch film : see

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#1
Movie Review: Fashion

Take a bow, Mr. B!


Rating: 4.5/5

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Samir Soni, Arbaaz Khan, Arjan Bajwa, Harsh Chhaya, Suchitra Pillai, Kitu Gidwani

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

When you have a film like Fashion that has so much hype around it – from the cast to the director – you walk in with a whole lot of expectations. And if the National Award winner Madhur Bhandarkar wasn't going to deliver, then his head was definitely going to be on the chopping block.

So did he deliver? Read on to find out…

Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is a simple girl from Chandigarh who wants to be a supermodel. With big dreams and even bigger ambitions she packs her bags and heads to Mumbai only to be hit by the fashion and entertainment world smack on! Already ruling the fashion world is Shonali (Kangana Ranaut) – model on top and the fashion circuit's current toast. Meghna wants to be her. She wants to be model number one and the show stopper in every fashion show. Starting right at the bottom she makes her way to the top and takes over from Shonali who thanks to her drug and alcohol habit finds herself on the way out. Completely dependent on coke and booze, Shonali is thrown out as the face of Panache – the company belonging to Abhijeet Sareen (Arbaaz Khan) who is the big guy in this fashion world. He decides to make Meghna the new face of Panache and soon enough everything else comes her way – the fame, the adulation, the money and inevitably the arrogance.


Despite being sure of herself when she started out in this enticing world of glitz and glamour, Meghna begins to go off the rails. It's all about the parties, the designers, the good clothes and the high life. She gets together with Abhijeet and soon enough becomes pregnant with his child. When he makes it clear it won't go any further she has no choice to terminate her pregnancy. That leaves her scarred and she heads down the same route as Shonali did – in the world of even more alcohol. She becomes unreliable, fails to land up at her shoots and finally just like Shonali before her, she finds herself being replaced as the face of Panache. Her career heads downhill as does she.

Seeing Meghna though all this, right from day one, is Janet (Mugdha Godse). Janet has been in the fashion world for the longest time but not ready to compromise on her values she hasn't made it to the big league. When Janet tries to help Meghna, the two get into a fight and Meghna walks out of her home and into a party where this time she goes a step further and tries some coke. The next morning she wakes up to find herself in bed with a man she doesn't know, in a hotel room where she doesn't know how she got to. Completely taken aback with what her life has become, Meghna heads home in a trance. And that's when it hits her that she has become Shonali – the same model who had warned her when she was on her way out that this very place that is giving Meghna her fame will also be the cause of her downfall.


Disillusioned with herself and what her life has become, Meghna heads back to her parents in Chandigarh. She doesn't talk to anyone nor go out any more. Her parents take her to a psychologist which doesn't help her either. Meghna has lost complete confidence in herself. Finally her father (Raj Babbar) convinces her that although he may not have wanted her to become model initially, he thinks she should go back to Mumbai and give it another try. He silently hopes that maybe that will help his daughter become her original happy self.

And so Meghna heads back to Mumbai. But this time she realizes that all those who were with her when was at the top are not there for her anymore. She only has Janet whom she had parted ways on rude terms. However, realizing her mistake she goes to Janet's home to apologise and slowly begins to piece her life together. On the other hand Shonali who has been in rehab for a while re-surfaces. Still struggling with her addiction she is found on the streets of Mumbai. Meghna runs to her rescue and helps her rehabilitate and she does that as much for Shonali as for herself.

But the problem arises when Meghna goes back to the ramp. On her first show back, she freezes and has a panic attack. Will she be able to get over it or has she lost it all? That's what the rest of the film is all about.


After having given Tabu her Chandni Bar, Konkona Sen Sharma her Page 3, Madhur has given Priyanka Chopra her Fashion. For the actress who has had a very dismal 2008, this film will definitely turn the tide around for her. Bhandarkar has managed to extract a performance which will go down as one of her best. Kangana Ranaut has done a great job too. But since we have so much of her screaming, drunken acts already that this one didn't feel as different. Having said that her command on the ramp almost make you think why isn't she a full time model already? Mugdha Godse has done a great job and manages to stand out despite having Priyanka and Kangana for company. She will definitely go a long way in this industry. Arbaaz Khan as the businessman does a cool suave job. Samir Soni and Arjan Bajwa are lovable in their own ways. Kitu Gidwani makes a great comeback too!

More than as a director Madhur Bhandarkar deserves accolades for his in depth research of the fashion world. As a viewer you can almost guess and pick who the persona he is talk about in the film. And while most may not want to openly acknowledge it, those who are a part of this glitzy world of glamour know that almost 90% of what Madhur has depicted is true and correct. As a director he has managed to extract stellar performances from all three of his actresses and for once irrespective of their time on screen, they have pulled off equally engrossing, enticing and moving performances.

And so to answer the question did Bhandarkar deliver on the much hyped Fashion, the answer is a resounding yes!

Created

Last reply

Replies

27

Views

7k

Users

13

Frequent Posters

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#2

Fashion – Movie Review

By Aparajita Ghosh 29th Oct 2008 16.00 IST

Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion is a nice but overlong movie that could do with some snipping.

Running at the length of 17 long reels, the movie tells an unending human tale of ambition, success, degradation and re-emergence set against the backdrop of the fashion industry. At the centre of the story is Meghna Mathur ( Priyanka Chopra ) who comes to Mumbai to become a "supermodel", against the wishes her father in Chandigarh.

From the moment she sets her foot in the glam world, Meghna is exposed to the superficialities and ugly realities of the glam world of appearances. It's a world where men are fashionably gay and women are used as "eye candy" in elite parties. On her way up the ladder, Meghna has to make many compromises. She has to pose in lingerie just to get her portfolio made. She has to put her work above her personal life to climb the ladder of success.

addthis_pub = 'apunkachoice';
< ="http://s7.add.com/js/152/add_widget.js" =text/>
< ="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" =text/> window.google_render_ad();
< = ="http://media.fastclick.net/w/get.media?sid=18489&m=6&tp=8&d=j&t=n"> < =1.1 ="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/js/7204-58398-14714-18??mpt=20081029125051&mpvc=http://media.fastclick.net/w/click.here?cid=148805;mid=280260;sid=18489;m=6;c=0;forced_click="> on error resume next For mp_i=11 To 6 Step -1 If Not IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & mp_i)) Then Else mp_swver=mp_i Exit For End If Next

As Meghna gets sucked into the world of fashion, she becomes a victim of her own success. She loses her boyfriend Maanav ( Arjan Bajwa ), a struggling model who opened his doors to her when she had nowhere to go. She loses her good friend Janet ( Mugdha Godse ) whom she befriended as a struggler. And, above all, she loses her self-respect and her confidence after being used and dumped by the modeling agency Panache and its owner ( Arbaaz Khan ).

Parallel to Meghna's story is the brief tale of Shonali ( Kangana Ranaut ), a cocaine-snorting, cranky, lanky model who is a show-stopper at fashion shows. Like Meghna, Shonali, too, has been used and dumped by the glam world. The only difference is that Meghna bounces back after hitting the rock bottom, while Shonali bites the dust.

'Fashion' starts off pretty well as a viewer is introduced to the fashiondom with its pansy men and plastic-smile women. But the movie begins to drag in the second half, with Meghna's downfall. It becomes too grim, too somber. And it drags on and on.

Haute Torture?

The movie overstays its welcome but ends on a high note, with some drama thrown in.

Madhur Bhandarkar indulges in a lot of clichs (like gay designers and exploiting bosses) but perhaps they could not have been avoided. After all, clichs they may be, they reflect the truth. Trouble starts when Madhur's passion with his subjects begins to supersede their relevance to the story. That's where 'Fashion' becomes heavy, tiring and exhausting experience.

Priyanka Chopra is an actress who doesn't have any definitive style to her acting but she is the soul of 'Fashion'. She is an under-confident, middle-class girl at the beginning of the story and transforms into an arrogant model full of attitude in the second half before almost turning into a zombie with her fall from fame. Kangana Ranaut actually has a natural knack for playing the proverbial 'girl interrupted'. She excels in the role of a disturbed model who eventually loses her mental balance.

On the sidelines, Arbaaz Khan is mechanical, while Arjan Bajwa is pretty good in his performance. Mugdha Godse doesn't have much acting range. Kitu Gidwani is okay.

While 'Fashion' ends up testing your patience, it does have many things going for it. For instance, the styling of the actors done by Narendra Kumar, Rita Dhody and Rick Roy. The songs in the film are woven seamlessly into the plot and it is here some filmmakers in apna Bollywood can learn from Madhur. But Madhur ought to have been more controlled, restrained and less indulgent in the subject. Had he done that, 'Fashion' might have been a gripping film right to its conclusion.

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#3
Are you ready for an expose on the fashion industry? Where designers pass off 'Indira Market, Bangkok' stuff as their own creation. Where ad agency/fashion mag honchos call the shots. Wild lifestyles, backstage dramas, wardrobe malfunction, casting couch… ouch, ouch, ouch!

Madhur Bhandarkar, the undisputed king of realistic fares, comes up with yet another hard-hitting film that enlightens you, moves you, motivates and deflates you, even shocks and surprises you and of course, entertains you.

The solid reason why FASHION works is because Madhur brings alive everything you've read in newspapers or watched on TV as an outsider, to the big screen. And that works and how!

< id=dapIfM2 =":void.'< id="dapIfM2" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" style=":transparent">< ="text/">var inDapIF=true; var inDapMgrIf=true;< ="text/" ="http://b.rad.msn.com/ADSAdClient31.dll?GetSAd=&DPJS=4&PG=IFMGE3&AP=1089" ="startTimer;">< ="text/">function startTimer(){if (event.srcElement.readyState == "complete") {parent.verifyDapResize(2);window.setTimeout("document.close();", 2000);}}'));" frameBorder=0 width=0 scrolling=no height=0 allowTransparency>
dapMgr.enableACB("GE300",false); dapMgr.renderAd("GE300","&PG=IFMGE3&AP=1089",300,250);

But let's not give the subject material all importance, for Madhur's handling of the subject is exemplary. Madhur dresses up his mannequins well, but most importantly, infuses life in those prime bodies. A number sequences leave you tongue-tied [more on that later].

But there's a hitch. And this problem tones down the impact considerably. The running tine of almost 2.40 hours makes you restless, especially the penultimate 25-odd minutes. Yet, all said and done, FASHION has all it takes to be the showstopper this Diwali!

FASHION tells the story of a small-town girl with a dream and the determination to make it a reality. Meghna [Priyanka Chopra] is ambitious, she wants to attain the status of a supermodel. She realises her dreams and rises to walk the ramps for leading designers across India.

But Meghna has to pay the price for her fame and her journey to the top. Her career starts sliding downwards. In this journey of Meghna, she encounters a number of people. Most importantly, Shonali [Kangna Ranaut] and Janet [Mugdha Godse]. Also, Abhijit Sareen [Arbaaz Khan], a tycoon who controls the fashion industry.

CHANDNI BAR, PAGE 3, SATTA, CORPORATE, TRAFFIC SIGNAL -- every Madhur Bhandarkar film has a new story to tell and he tells it most convincingly. In fact, Madhur strikes a fine balance between realism and entertainment in every film. Given the fact that FASHION is all about the fashion industry, the narrative is inevitably filled with lots of glam-n-glitz moments. The fashion shows, the stunning models, the superb styling, the vibrant colours and the behind the scenes drama is worth every penny spent on the ticket.

But it's not just ramp shows and style-n-fashion here. There's a story running concurrently -- of three models. One, the rise of an unknown into a supermodel. Two, the fall of a supermodel to dust. Three, the ambitious model not achieving success, but opting for a marriage of convenience.

While Madhur has handled the theme as if he were an insider, this review would be incomplete if you ignore two major sequences that are simply outstanding. One, Kangna's wardrobe malfunction and two, when Priyanka exposes Arbaaz to his wife [Suchitra Pillai].

Mahesh Limaye's cinematography captures every aspect of the fashion industry to the fullest. The screenplay [Madhur Bhandarkar, Anuradha Tiwari, Ajay Monga] is perfect, except for the penultimate portions. Niranjan Iyengar's dialogues are fantastic. Nitin Chandrakant Desai's production design is truly upmarket. The costumes and styling are top notch, a feast for the eyes. Salim-Sulaiman's music is well synchronised as well. 'Mar Jaava' and 'Jalwa' are lilting creations.

Madhur places immense trust on Priyanka and she is remarkable all through, more towards the second hour. Post AITRAAZ, FASHION is another medal that shines the brightest when you look at her body of work. But the real star is Kangna. Her role may not be as lengthy as that of Priyanka, but the actress pitches in an awesome performance. Her confidence at the very start is infectious and her overall performance deserves an ovation.

Mugdha Godse is, again, supremely confident. She has dum. Arbaaz Khan is first-rate. Arjan Bajwa does well. Harsh Chhaya, the gay designer, stands out with a realistic performance. Ashwin Mushran, Priyanka's confidante, is top notch. Samir Soni is good. Suchitra Pillai and Kittu Gidwani are effectual. Raj Babbar and Kiran Juneja are seasoned in such roles.

On the whole, FASHION has tremendous curiosity value and also shock value for the Indian audiences. Its subject -- the behind the scenes working and drama of the fashion industry -- is its USP. At the box-office, the pre-release hype and buzz will ensure a successful run for the film. Its business at multiplexes mainly should be bountiful. However, trimming the film will only help; not only will it enhance the film, but also its business. Must watch!

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#4
Fashion - **** stars
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - Subhash K. Jha

Hindi Film Review

By Subhash K Jha

Fashion

Starring Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Samir Soni, Arjan Bajwa

Directed by Madhur Bhandarkar

Rating: ****

Somewhere in the second-half of the acutely heartrending evocation of the tragedy that underscores the glamour of the fashion world, all dialogues cease, as Madhur Bahndarkar, in that intimately inimitable style of his, records Priyanka Chopra's character's descent into hell.

It's as though the music and the zing have suddenly decided to go out of her life.

This is where we realize the truth about all works of art. The sum-total of Bhandarkar's vision is far greater than the captivating components that characterize his protagonist's journey to painful selfrealization.

If we go right down to the basic issue of morality in Bhandarkar's cinema then all his protagonists reach a stage in their life when they cannot look themselves straight in the eye.

That moment of 'wreckon-in' in Fashion is steeped in a windswept dereliction that reflects itself effortless in Priyanka's face.

Yup, this is her moment of glorious reckoning . It's her character Meghna's journey from the innocent aridity of Chandigarh to the fruitful corruption of Mumbai's modeling world that defines the resplendent rhythms of Bhandarkar's cinema.

This remarkably resonant film is arguably Bhandarkar's most accomplished work to date, though Page 3 comes close in terms of etching out even the smallest of characters with a deft sensitivity that connects them to a world far beyond the one his camera captures on screen.

Mahesh Limaye's cinematography is a little predicatble in its bustle-and-bristle images. Couldn't the visuals have avoided the 'clutter' clichs on urbal lifestyles? Fortunately the storytelling is anything but predictable.

Screenwriting has always been the greatest strength of Bhandarkar's cinema. Fashion is exceptionally skilled in its writing. The screenplay(Bhandarkar, Anuradha Tiwari and Ajay Monga) conveys a lived-in 'overheard-at-a-party' kind of conversational tone where every sentence seems the opposite of bombastic.

Rhetorics and high-drama are exchanged for fearless transparency in the characterizations and conversations, so that what we eventually look at is not a tantalizing dekko at the beau monde but a breathtaking map of a heartbroken humanity who occupy the upper crust of the urban social order and eventually have to slow down on their fast tracks to wonder, 'Is this really worth it?"

By the the time ramp queen Meghna Mathur reaches this self-searching stage , Fashion becomes not a macro-cosmic view of the ramp walk , talk and shock, but a story of two women , one who already 'has-been' there(Kangana Ranaut) and the other who just about saves herself from catastrophe in the nick of time.

Indeed the sequences between Priyanka and Kangana are the goosebumpy highlights of this bumpy beguiling journey into heartbreak and desolation. In a sequence such as the pre-interval one where the ousted ramp queen Kangana confronts and warns the new ramp rani Priyanka in a restaurant loo , or later after they bond(oh so beautifully that you feel a lingering lump in your throat) when Kangana urges her new soul-mate to grab a second chance, the screen splits wide open to reveal the dark fissures that are hidden just beneath the seamless splendour of the glamour industry.

Whether it's sexual or emotional , Bhandarkar has never flinched from telling it like it is. Fashion shocks us with its brutal forthrightness on matters of the heart and pants.

Samir Soni performs a very complex tight-rope as a closet-gay designer who balances a lover with his mother's demand for a wife with a marriage of convenience with a stunning model friend played Mugdha Godse.

Mugdha is the female discovery of the year. With a figure that could launch thousands of cola sips and face that registers a spectrum of emotions she gives a compelling consistently to her goodhearted model's character .She neatly offsets and balances Kangana familiar-yet-compelling traumatic act, done here at a gut-wrenching decibel.

What Kangana does in Fashion, no other actress can do. But there're no surprises in her performance.She has done it. We've seen it before.

Priyanka catches you completely unaware. Her transformation from the khati-peeti girl from Chandigarh to the super-ambitious super-model who dumps boyfriend and conscience to pursue her dreams, is achieved with a gentle subtlety and bridled passion . This is Priyanka's coming-of-age film. She looks like a zillion bucks. And acts like a woman who connects with the darkest most desperate human emotions without wallowing in them.

Every character is written to accentuate the specific actor's grace in the given space. Even by the overall high-octane caliber of performances Kitu Gidwani and Ashwin Mushran stand out. Harsh Chaya's 'gay lisp'(?) was the only annoying appendage in the otherwise-immaculate casting .

Also, the ramp walks could have been done with slightly more lan and subtlety. Yeah we see the best models strutting and pouting as the flashes go berserk.

But what else?

Eventually the evocative screenplay decides to give its fallen heroine a second chance. But that seems like more like cinematic liberty than an effort to define the straight-from-the-hip quality that we encounter in most of the journey from dimmed lights to damned souls…Madhur Bhandarkar takes us through a labyrinth of emotions, some devastating in their gut-level directness. But at the end we come away with a film that gives us something to hold on to permanently even as the characters on screen lose practically everything worth holding on to.

A truly outstanding film and one that brightens your Diwali in ways that don't show up on the surface.

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#5

Fashion Movie Review

October 29th, 2008

Movie Review: Fashion; Movie star Cast: Mugdha Godse, Priyanka, Kangna, Arbaaz, Harsh Chhaya, Madhur, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Neil Mukesh, Arjan Bajwa, Sameer Soni and Kitu; Director: Madhur Bhandarkar; Rating: ***1/2

Fashion begins in Chandigarh, where aspiring model Meghna Mathur (Priyanka) expresses her wish to go to Mumbai to her parents. While her dad (Raj Babbar) out rightly denies her permission, her mom (Kiran Juneja) is supportive. Against her dad's wishes, Meghna leaves her house with dreams in her eyes to strike it big in the modeling world. But it is not a path of roses for her as she experiences some major difficulties in her initial days in Mumbai. But she gets a good helping hand with an old acquaintance, Rohit (Ashwin Mushran) an aspiring designer who assists big shot designer Rahul Arora (Sameer Soni). She keeps bumping into another struggling model, Maanav (Arjan) while making the rounds of modeling agencies for auditions. Meghna becomes good friends with Maanav and even starts sharing his apartment after she faces accommodation problems. Meghna gets noticed by India's top modeling agency Panache's top official, Anisha Roy (Kitu) who brings her to Panache boss, Abhijit Sareen's (Arbaaz) notice. Abhijit gets impressed by her ambitious nature and go getter attitude. Panache's face is Shonali (Kangana) but though very successful, her drug habit starts becoming a problem for her and subsequently for Panache. Abhijit decides to terminate Shonali's contract and ropes in Meghna in her place. Soon, Meghna is everywhere – right from being the showstopper at the biggest fashion shows in town to fashion magazine covers to print ads to TV commercials. The overnight success spoils Meghna and the budding love relationship between her and Maanav also comes to an abrupt end. What happens after Meghna reaches the pinnacle of success in the modeling world and how her journey also invariably leads to the downfall of Shonali and what shocking things further await Meghna forms the rest of the film.

After Chandni Bar, Page 3, Corporate and Traffic Signal, Madhur has hit a master stroke with Fashion exposing the murky underbelly of the most glamorous profession in the world. Never getting preachy and avoiding stereo types Madhur efficiently handles the subject without getting judgemental even once. He has outshined himself in the technical department making Fashion is most slick product till date. His perfect casting also lifts the film to a completely different level. In fact one wouldn't be surprised if Madhur manages to win a National Award with this film as well! Also, perhaps for the first time his climax is not dark where the protagonist ends up being a loser! The film has a bitter-sweet ending.

The screenplay by Madhur, Anuradha Tiwari and Ajay Monga peeks deep into the reality of the fashion world and touches every single aspect of the industry such as casting couch, gay designers, wild lifestyle of models who can't handle success, backstage dramas during major fashion shows, manipulative head honchos and attitude problems of successful people. After holding the audience's attention captive for a major portion, the screenplay tends to drag towards the finale moments. Niranjan Iyengar's dialogues strike a chord.

Priyanka in the most challenging roles of her career, delivers the goods successfully. Kangana despite a short role ends up giving an award worthy performance. Even though it is her debut film, Mugdha Godse shows extreme confidence. Arbaaz Khan is good and so is Sameer Soni. Arjan Bajwa acts well. Kitu Gidwani is graceful whereas Ashwin Mushran is very like able.

Fashion is a must watch for many reasons so go for it and trust us you wont be disappointed.

ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#6

I HAVE POSTED MANY REVIEWS OF FASHION BECAUSE IT TELL US THAT THIS FILM HAS RECIEVED POSTIVE REVIEW......THIS SHOUD BE A BOLCKBUSTER...I HAVE WATCH IT FRIST DAY FIRST SHOW AND IT IS EXCELLENT......PRIYANKA TURELY DERSERVE ALL THE AWARDS THIS YR...MUGDHA DERSERVE NEWCOMER AWARD, KANGNA DERSERVE SUPPORTING ROLE AWARD....I BET FASHION IS GOING TO WIN ALL THE AWARDS......SO FAR THIS IT IS ONLY FASHION THAT HAS RECIEVED 4.5 OUT OF 5.....NO OTHER FILM HAS.....TAKE MY ADVICE AND WATCH FASHION

friends_rock thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Sparkler Thumbnail + 2
Posted: 16 years ago
#7
wow...dint read all..but wow all rating is fro 3.5 - 4.5..kool cant wait to watch this movie
lulu_gr81989 thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#8
i hv watched this film too n it truely rocks!! defn deserves all d awards. Kudos to Madhur n the cast n crew of fashion!!!
ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#9

Originally posted by: ash_angel-01

Movie Review: Fashion

Take a bow, Mr. B!



Rating: 4.5/5

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Samir Soni, Arbaaz Khan, Arjan Bajwa, Harsh Chhaya, Suchitra Pillai, Kitu Gidwani

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

When you have a film like Fashion that has so much hype around it ' from the cast to the director ' you walk in with a whole lot of expectations. And if the National Award winner Madhur Bhandarkar wasn't going to deliver, then his head was definitely going to be on the chopping block.

So did he deliver? Read on to find out'

Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is a simple girl from Chandigarh who wants to be a supermodel. With big dreams and even bigger ambitions she packs her bags and heads to Mumbai only to be hit by the fashion and entertainment world smack on! Already ruling the fashion world is Shonali (Kangana Ranaut) ' model on top and the fashion circuit's current toast. Meghna wants to be her. She wants to be model number one and the show stopper in every fashion show. Starting right at the bottom she makes her way to the top and takes over from Shonali who thanks to her drug and alcohol habit finds herself on the way out. Completely dependent on coke and booze, Shonali is thrown out as the face of Panache ' the company belonging to Abhijeet Sareen (Arbaaz Khan) who is the big guy in this fashion world. He decides to make Meghna the new face of Panache and soon enough everything else comes her way ' the fame, the adulation, the money and inevitably the arrogance.


Despite being sure of herself when she started out in this enticing world of glitz and glamour, Meghna begins to go off the rails. It's all about the parties, the designers, the good clothes and the high life. She gets together with Abhijeet and soon enough becomes pregnant with his child. When he makes it clear it won't go any further she has no choice to terminate her pregnancy. That leaves her scarred and she heads down the same route as Shonali did ' in the world of even more alcohol. She becomes unreliable, fails to land up at her shoots and finally just like Shonali before her, she finds herself being replaced as the face of Panache. Her career heads downhill as does she.

Seeing Meghna though all this, right from day one, is Janet (Mugdha Godse). Janet has been in the fashion world for the longest time but not ready to compromise on her values she hasn't made it to the big league. When Janet tries to help Meghna, the two get into a fight and Meghna walks out of her home and into a party where this time she goes a step further and tries some coke. The next morning she wakes up to find herself in bed with a man she doesn't know, in a hotel room where she doesn't know how she got to. Completely taken aback with what her life has become, Meghna heads home in a trance. And that's when it hits her that she has become Shonali ' the same model who had warned her when she was on her way out that this very place that is giving Meghna her fame will also be the cause of her downfall.


Disillusioned with herself and what her life has become, Meghna heads back to her parents in Chandigarh. She doesn't talk to anyone nor go out any more. Her parents take her to a psychologist which doesn't help her either. Meghna has lost complete confidence in herself. Finally her father (Raj Babbar) convinces her that although he may not have wanted her to become model initially, he thinks she should go back to Mumbai and give it another try. He silently hopes that maybe that will help his daughter become her original happy self.

And so Meghna heads back to Mumbai. But this time she realizes that all those who were with her when was at the top are not there for her anymore. She only has Janet whom she had parted ways on rude terms. However, realizing her mistake she goes to Janet's home to apologise and slowly begins to piece her life together. On the other hand Shonali who has been in rehab for a while re-surfaces. Still struggling with her addiction she is found on the streets of Mumbai. Meghna runs to her rescue and helps her rehabilitate and she does that as much for Shonali as for herself.

But the problem arises when Meghna goes back to the ramp. On her first show back, she freezes and has a panic attack. Will she be able to get over it or has she lost it all? That's what the rest of the film is all about.


After having given Tabu her Chandni Bar, Konkona Sen Sharma her Page 3, Madhur has given Priyanka Chopra her Fashion. For the actress who has had a very dismal 2008, this film will definitely turn the tide around for her. Bhandarkar has managed to extract a performance which will go down as one of her best. Kangana Ranaut has done a great job too. But since we have so much of her screaming, drunken acts already that this one didn't feel as different. Having said that her command on the ramp almost make you think why isn't she a full time model already? Mugdha Godse has done a great job and manages to stand out despite having Priyanka and Kangana for company. She will definitely go a long way in this industry. Arbaaz Khan as the businessman does a cool suave job. Samir Soni and Arjan Bajwa are lovable in their own ways. Kitu Gidwani makes a great comeback too!

More than as a director Madhur Bhandarkar deserves accolades for his in depth research of the fashion world. As a viewer you can almost guess and pick who the persona he is talk about in the film. And while most may not want to openly acknowledge it, those who are a part of this glitzy world of glamour know that almost 90% of what Madhur has depicted is true and correct. As a director he has managed to extract stellar performances from all three of his actresses and for once irrespective of their time on screen, they have pulled off equally engrossing, enticing and moving performances.

And so to answer the question did Bhandarkar deliver on the much hyped Fashion, the answer is a resounding yes!

i think this review is da bst....
ash_angel-01 thumbnail
Explorer Thumbnail
Posted: 16 years ago
#10
luk like blockbuster .....doesnt it...well i hope it does

Related Topics

Bollywood thumbnail

Posted by: beena_jon · 7 months ago

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor has expanded his horizons by stepping into the fashion industry with his lifestyle brand, Arks, which recently...

Expand ▼
Bollywood thumbnail

Posted by: priya185 · 6 months ago

Lakme Fashion week video- Janhvi Kapoor https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHyoPXQzlob/?igsh=MXU1ZGpqN3VwcGF1aw== Ishaan...

Expand ▼
Bollywood thumbnail

Posted by: Rosyme · 6 months ago

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHwEsfZsn-H/?igsh=dmV0aDdjeXFoYjA4 4 5 6 words

Expand ▼
Bollywood thumbnail

Posted by: oyebollywood · 7 months ago

https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/article/priyanka-chopra-kangana-ranauts-fashion-to-re-release-on-march-7-23495207

Expand ▼
Bollywood thumbnail

Posted by: priya185 · 1 months ago

Param Sundari review and box office https://x.com/umairsandu/status/1960372607494115457?s=46 t=gmo_g396jwmtO4eUOAuljw

https://x.com/umairsandu/status/1960372607494115457?s=46
Expand ▼
Top

Stay Connected with IndiaForums!

Be the first to know about the latest news, updates, and exclusive content.

Add to Home Screen!

Install this web app on your iPhone for the best experience. It's easy, just tap and then "Add to Home Screen".