After a series of appalling films following a nearly year-and-a-half hiatus, Priyanka Chopra could seemingly do nothing right. In my Drona review, I declared that Ms. Chopra "best hope that the upcoming Fashion and Dostana revive what looks like a sinking career," and damn it the lady has officially made me eat my own words.That Fashion is Chopra's career-best performance is evident as soon as, just before the interval, she develops a perpetual smirk on her face and settles into her newly-appointed supermodel status. But as ungrateful as her reel-life persona may be to the people who helped her get there, let's hope she shows some real-life gratitude to Madhur Bhandarkar, the man who may have just salvaged her career.
Known for his women-centric subjects in past endeavors such as Chandni Bar, Satta, Page 3 and Corporate, he makes no exception here in a film that essentially revolves around three women: a struggling model with huge aspirations (Chopra); a b-grade model who teaches other wannabes the ropes (debutante Mugdha Godse) and a notoriously diva supermodel on the brink of downfall (Kangana Raunat, of Gangster and Woh Lamhe).
Chopra indeed receives the most scope and makes the most of it, perhaps predicting that this could very well be her last shot. Instead of merely digging herself out of the aforementioned hole, she ends up proving that recent poor film selection notwithstanding, she is in fact the one with the most acting potential of the new generation beauty brigade.
Kangana is bearable when she uses her body language and expressions; unfortunately as soon as she starts shrieking in her ever-shrill voice, it gets to be a bit much. Newbie Mughda is a good find either because she plays herself - a model - or she is in fact talented and one to look out for.
Kudos for the transitioning of Chopra from a small-town girl with bad clothes, cheap highlights and a bit of extra weight to a leaner, high-fashion achiever and then to an over-the-top, borderline tramp.
The main setback is the film's length. At two hours and 30 minutes, it feels more like three due to its often repetitive tendency. At times we feel we have seen enough shows and parties and have well understood the hypocrisy and superficiality of the coveted industry defined by glamor.
Verdict? A definite watch for a new subject and the return of Priyanka Chopra.
7 comments:
I thought this movie looked kindof promising. Well not really. It did look different. Now I'll definitely watch it....and by "watch it" I mean buy the $2 DVD from the paan guy
i liked this movie quite a lot too. priyanka looked gorgeous, but more importantly she acted amazing. songs were worth a mention too
and I haven't seen too many of Priyanka's movies. Now that I think of it, I've only seen Krrish and Bluffmaster. Her acting was HORRIBLE in krrish. I thought it was a joke at first. I don't know what was wrong with her.
ohhh fashion was awesome!! i loved it... after a longggg time, i actually enjoyed a bollywood movie.. altho what u said abt it seeming to be 3 hrs is true and i was surprised when i read that it was just 2 hrs 15 mins.. however, i didnt get bored at all.. priyanka was great, after a whileeee.. her expressions, acting were excellent and she powerfully depicted all the emotions experienced by her character.. and i liked the overall concept.. the movie was well made.. kangana did justice to her role, tho she annoyed the hell out of me in her previous movies!! she was on the verge of doing that in this one too, but i guess those were the requirements of her character ;)
well written review subby!! thumbs up :)
i dont have any paan guy around my place, so i will have to wait for it to come online....
Finally saw it..wasnt bad..though kangna was really annoying...
It's a coincidence that you shared your article on Priyanka Chopra with me today, since I was watching "Fashion" on the Zee Cinema channel on TV yesterday! I actually thought the movie was edgy and it showed the ugly side of the superficial and materialistic exploitation of beauty in the modeling industry. I thought Priyanka did a great job in portraying the shifting attitudes of a model throughout the ups and downs of her career. I also agree, Kangana Ranaut needs to modulate her voice better; yet her strongest scene was when she walked on the ramp in the "Jalwa" song number...needless to say, she didn't have any dialogues in the scene. I actually didn't like Arbaaz Khan in the movie, his acting wasn't convincing enough; however, the lady playing his wife was more believable. Oh, and btw, do you Sameer Soni (the 'gay' designer husband of Mughda in the movie) is currently dating yesteryear's heroine Neelam? I just thought that was interesting. Well-written article by the way!~
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