Filmworld
'Calendar Girls' - Jaded, faded with nothing new
Film: "Calendar Girls"; Director: Madhur Bhandarkar; Cast: Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satarupa Pyne.
While
Madhur Bhandarkar tries washing away the grease paint off the glamour
industry, he desperately seems to be recycling the content from his
previous films, thus offering nothing new to his audience.
If you
have seen "Fashion" and "Heroine", then "Calendar Girls" is no
different in terms of setting, emotions and drama. Except, here you have
an equally glossy film with ample bronze and golden-hued skin show.
Famed
for being brutally honest about his depiction about his subjects, this
film offers an insight into the lives of the bikini-clad calendar girls,
a phenomenon created by industrialist Vijay Mallya's popular Kingfisher
calendars.
After their selection, the never-ending prologue
delves into the excitement and dreams of the five girls - Nandita Menon
from Hyderabad, Paroma Ghosh from Kolkata, Sharon Pinto from Goa,
Nazneen Malik from Pakistan and Mayuri Chauhan from Rohtak.
Soon,
after a quick photo session in the Maldives, The Calendar 2014 is
launched with much fanfare. The girls become overnight celebrities, who
are now predictably prone to be cursed by the demons of fame.
The
script intricately weaves each one's story passionately, revealing a
graph that starts from an evocative high and only plunges down the
emotional scale, predictably so.
The five new girls making their
debut are competitive and confident. They slip into the character skin
with grace and ease, occasionally faltering with their diction and
dialogue delivery.
They are ably supported by a plethora of
able-bodied hunks who are cast opposite each of the girls and a few in
just one-scene roles.
Notable among them are the characters Pinakee Chatterjee, Harsh Narang, Imzamaam, Akhil Sood and Shashank.
Suhel
Seth, an otherwise brilliant actor whose character, Rishab Kukreja is
modelled on the lines of Vijay Mallya along with Kiran Kumar as the
senior industrialist Mr. Narang, are wasted on screen.
Rohit Roy
as photographer Timmy Sen along with Mita Vashist as the sleazy fixer
Ananya Raichand, Suchitra Pillai as the socialite Naina and Madhur
Bhandarkar as himself, are perfunctory.
Madhur's writing is
sedate, unenterprising and cheesy with dialogues like, "Har bade actor
ko to dus takes dene padathe hain. Aur aap ko, one take aur paise
tumhare bank mein (Every big actor needs to give 10 takes. But you just
need one take and the money will be in your bank)."
Also, for a National Award winning director, his direction is carelessly chaotic and tacky.
This
is very much evident in the restaurant scene, where Nandita cries her
heart out to Nazneen about her straying husband and at the same time
unintentionally sermonises about the escorts business.
Every
scene seems to have a distinctive Madhur Bhandarkar influence which,
over repetitive representations, seem lacklustre and jaded with oft
seen, stereotypical characterizations. This pales the viewing
experience, this time over.
Also, the drama seems forced. One is
curious to understand as to why Paroma's brother and father bail her out
after the match-fixing accusation only to later leave her to fend for
herself? The plotting of these characters is confusing.
The music
too offers nothing new and exciting. The songs are packaged as music
videos and the lyrics don't add any meaning to the narration.
It might be a good idea to wait for his next, "Airhostess," which is subtly announced in this film.
At the end of "Calendar Girls", the film simply states: "Life is all about the individual choices we make."
One wonders, if this is actually a warning message for those who intend to watch this film.