Masand's Verdict: Fashion is all masala, no reality

FASHION STATEMENT: Fashion is a superficial study of the industry Bhandarkar claims to have covered.

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Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mughda Ghodse, Kitu Gidwani, Raj Babbar

Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar

One of the inconsistencies in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion comes through his portrait of aspiring model Meghna Mathur’s father, played by Raj Babbar. This Chandigarh dad is disapproving and unrelenting when his daughter, played by Priyanka Chopra, wants to head to Mumbai to become a model after winning a small-time beauty contest.

But when she comes back years later, an empty shell of a former supermodel in need of psychiatric visits, this dad pushes her back onto the ramp just because it is her dream. Correct me if I’m wrong, but only your worst enemy would coax you to go back into the world that left you scarred for life, certainly not your own father.

Of course, in a Madhur Bhandarkar film, logic plays little role as long as his reality formula kicks in. A woman protagonist will struggle and be exposed to the seamy side of things in her climb to the top, then lose it all to the trappings of success, hitting the gutter.

To Bhandarkar, this is the reality of the ramp – a bleak look at an industry rampant with drugs, homosexuality, power play, promiscuity.

Yes, it has flashes of authenticity, but what is Fashion trying to say? That every woman who becomes the showstopper or supermodel turns into a diva and gets mixed up with the worst kind of men? Or that they then spiral in a vortex of drugs, drink and one-night stands?

This seems to be the same formula in most of Bhandarkar’s films – from Page 3 to Corporate. It’s just the background that changes. So even though the director takes nearly three endless hours to tell Meghna Mathur’s story, you as the audience can see it coming a mile away.

Having said that, the glamour, the backstage choreography and the front-row reactions give the film its intriguing moments.