Ever since Madhur Bhandarkar made the critically acclaimed movie 'chandni bar', one after another he has been making movies on exposing the negative side of different societies. His previous works such as 'corporate' and 'page 3' I regard as his best movies. They had a engaging synopsis and depicted the business and celebrity world in an authentic manner without any over exaggeration. 'Fashion' is in a league of its own. The movie charts the rise and downfall of a super model. After the 2 hour 45 minute duration we can see how much investment had been put in the production of this picture. Madhur has clearly put a lot of time and research behind making this movie however if more attention was given to the plot, the movie would have become a more solid substance. From his point of view he has given a very biased one sided perception of the fashion and modelling world. He tends to put forward to us a negative view and that there is nothing positive. Why ? is what I ask. There surely has to be something positive in this world.This is a feminist movie and in my opinion many men and woman who are / or aspire to be a model will find it interesting. However a few people who have no interest or knowledge about the fashion world will most probably need to give the movie a second viewing to give their honest judgement.************************SPOILERS AHEAD************************ We are introduced to meghna mathur (priyanka chopra) who is a small town girl from Punjab who aspires to become a super model. Against her fathers wishes she is persistent so she leaves for Mumbai and stays at a relatives residence. Initially she goes through a struggling phase from giving auditions, photo shoots as well as attending hotel parties so she can get noticed. At this point Janet (mugda godse) becomes her friend and guides her along the way. Meghna agrees to pay 50,000 for a high class photo shoot which leads her being put forward to the agency panache. At this moment she meets the owner Mr sareen (arbaaz khan), who makes her the brand model as well acquainting himself romantically with meghna. From that moment onwards her career takes a downfall due to having an abortion and later having a one night stand with a stranger. However after a year or two she is still mentally obsessed with the profession and decides to make a comeback. In the end she becomes a positive person and realises that to become successful in life it is not always correct to take the short cuts. *********END OF SPOILERS*********************** Without a doubt this is Priyanka's best performance to date. She has groomed herself in to the role well and really sunk her teeth in to the character. She displayed the grey shades with ease as well. Her portrayal of a model was realistic. The full potential in her acting talent was unleashed before us. The movie contained many shades of 'page 3' and was very reminiscent. Many people made cameo appearances. Just as I mentioned earlier the movies length in duration goes against the movie. As it can often make the viewer loose interest and concentration at times. The main plot does not begin until after the first hour. Maybe a few minor editing and cuts would have helped the movie. There are many ramp walk show and good looking bodies at display in every moment in the movie, which certainly raises a few eyebrows. These portions actually add to the movie's duration. I feel that special mention has to be given to the cinematography department. The quality of many scenes and moments were enhanced by wonderfully capturing it. Salim Suleiman's background score has its hear in the right place. However a few moments did not require music, this eradicated the feeling at certain turning moments. Afew scenes would have had a good enough impact even without the use of music. Many fashion designers have been shown to be gay in the movie. Madhur fails to interpret the reason behind this. It was not an assumption that I could swallow. I was impressed by Mugda Godse's acting debut. Keeping in mind that she was previously a model, she has proved that she has great potential to be an actress. I could not understand why her character had no involvement in the plot or even in Priyanka's story. There was no intervention on behalf of her, neither from Samir Soni. Kangana Ranaut overshadowed Priyanka on many occasions. It was a shame that she did not have much scope. It would have been a pleasure to have seen more of her. However she is beginning to become type-casted in the 'woman in distress' roles. Arbaaz Khan was the wrong choice for the role. He did not display any emotion or expressions through the character. Someone more established would have fitted the role better.Overall this is an enjoyable movie which can attract much attention from the female audiences. Plus there is a good in-depth insight in to different routes that are taken in to becoming a model. Priyanka's performance is another plus aspect. The 2 negative aspects such as a shallow plot and long running time of the movie might possibly deter viewer from giving their two thumbs up.26/10

MB's films are a bit different from the usual bollywood fare and this subjects are bold. Fashion, whilst watchable has a cliché ridden story. In addition, it looks like he has a set template of characters which move from one film to the other - it was like Page 3 set in the fashion world with same rich socialites (bad), middle class (good), psychos (Kangana in sparkling form) and extras doing social commentary. Priyanka is looking gorgeous and does a sterling job (Especially when compared to the suffocating Sana she played in Love Story 2050). Arbaaz is his wooden self and looks like he is reading the lines straight off the tele prompter. The supporting cast are generally very good as is the case in a lot of Madhur's films. Its a wafer thin story with shocks as fillings - Lets do something new Madhur.

Fashion was a really nice movie, and mostly it was it was showing the life of models. It even shows the models dark side, not only smoking, drinking etc. Priyanka Chopra did a very good acting as Meghna Mathur. But I felt that if she could have given a bit more expressions it would have been a better film. Kangana Raunat did a satisfying role as Shonali Gujral. She was into her character. Specially then when she had to act drunken etc. I guess she was the one who acted the best in this movie. But I still think the movie could be made shorter. She really showed how ambitious she was. Priyanka really showed how nicely she could act and do cat walk. I think Madhur Bhandarkar has made a really successful and real life based movie. His movie has a depth and shows the real life of models. You all should go and see this incredible movie.

"Page 3", "Corporate", "Chandni Bar", "Traffic Signal", the previous efforts of Madhur Bhandarkar, wore their ragged production values as a badge of honor: the grainy film stock, the tatty wardrobes, the casts that appeared to be recruited right off the streets were meant to indicate a seriousness of purpose and a defiance of the accepted Hindi film aesthetic. These films were gritty, unlovely, a tad too earnest, and somewhat salacious, for, in their quest to expose societal filth, they had much in common with tabloid journalism and trash TV. What elevated them, however, was Bhandarkar's knack for drawing out strong performances from his actors. "Page 3" exposed, without any discernible glee, and more's the pity, the tawdry lives of socialites but gave film-viewers a vivacious Konkana Sen Sharma and a hard-as-nails Atul Kulkarni, while "Chandni Bar", a gloomy look at the lives of bar dancers, offered a piece de resistance performance from Tabu. I haven't seen "Corporate" or "Traffic Signal", but suspect they are similarly plodding and humorless.Bhandarkar's production budget was certainly quadrupled for his newest opus, "Fashion" to depict the glitz and glamor of the latest industry to come under his gimlet-eyed scrutiny. "Fashion" boasts slick production values, a thumping techno soundtrack, but unfortunately, not a lot of fun. Fashion, a worldwide multi-billion dollar industry, is certainly a serious business, but to be entertainment, it shouldn't take itself unduly seriously, because—let's face it—astrophysics and neuro-surgery, it ain't. Sure, the business has always attracted the pretty and none-too-bright, as also the predatory and disreputable, but if Bhandarkar's take on it is as accurate as touted, it has lost the all-important aspect of fun, which is what makes it attractive to millions the world over.Shobha Dé documents the infancy of the Indian fashion scene in her vastly entertaining memoir "Selective Memory". In one amusing anecdote, an industry lech proposes that the three young models Shobha, Zeenat Aman, and Asha Puthli perform a striptease for him. While the naïve Shobha and Zeenat are horrified, Asha Puthli giggles her readiness and darts off to her room to prepare. She emerges wrapped in shredded newspaper, does a saucy little dance, and says to the creep, "You got your striptease: here are the strips"—pointing to her newspaper costume; "and I am the tease." In the ensuing laughter, the man loses the nerve to pursue them further. It was this crucial element of light-heartedness that is missing from "Fashion". Sadly, Puthli, who also acted in the early Merchant-Ivory film "The Savages", vanished a long time ago, a rumored victim of drug addiction. I wonder if it is because fashion is now big business in India, as it always was elsewhere, that Bhandarkar doesn't find much levity in his enterprise."Fashion" tells the story of three fashion models at different stages in their careers: dewy fresh, somewhat plump Meghna (Priyanka Chopra) is the small-town girl recently arrived in Mumbai with a ferocious drive to succeed; Shonali (Kangna Ranaut) is the fine-boned, wild-maned reigning queen of the ramp, while Janet (sprightly newcomer Mugdha Godse) is the worldly long-time model who's never struck it big. Right off the bat, Meghna acquires a fairy (of course, he's gay) godmother Rohan, fashion industry small fry with some tenuous access to the bigwigs. Predictably, we witness Meghna's ascendancy even as Shonali's star is on the wane. The race is on, and it seems the one who can look more sullen who will emerge triumphant. Sensible Janet, ever on the sidelines, proffers nuggets of wisdom to upwardly-mobile Meghna, and settles for a marriage of convenience with a successful closeted gay designer. Shonali turns increasingly erratic, suffering drug addiction and much degradation from a parasitic lover, while Meghna, newly svelte, hardened and callous, nimbly steps into the top position, despite some dangerously high heels.If "Fashion" works as a cautionary tale, it is due to Kangna Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra, who rise above a rudimentary script, devoid of subtlety or nuance, and deliver haunting performances. Both have taken on daring (by Indian standards) roles depicting drug abuse, along with some truly scary scenes requiring them to appear without makeup. While not exactly bimbos, they do appear to confuse hubris with confidence and throw hissy fits that underscore their pettiness. But the girls succeed in bringing out the human frailties, ambitions, and hopes of the characters.Despite Madhur Bhandarkar's insistence that "Fashion" is the result of diligent research, the characters are stereotypical. The models are relentlessly vapid and all the gay characters (save one—the closeted one) flounce and lisp. Is this Bhandarkar's idea of humor? Stanley Tucci in "The Devil Wears Prada" is frighteningly efficient, clever, funny, and long-suffering, and one perceives immediately why he is the Meryl Streep character's right-hand man. He is gay, but that is never belabored.Smart writing would have punched up the proceedings, and made "Fashion" more watchable. Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be, and we're usually at the movies to escape it. Realistic cinema doesn't have to be as boring as real life; that's where artistic license comes in. I did like Kittu Gidwani, a model from the 'eighties who graduated to movie roles, looking remarkably fit and fine, playing the morally ambiguous fixer at the fictitious agency named Panache, where our model heroines futilely battle for supremacy. Panache is owned by one Abhijit Sarin—played with reptilian sang-froid by Arbaaz Khan—with Gidwani, stubbing out one cigarette after another with her long elegant fingers, as his prime enabler. The married Sarin routinely beds "the Face of Panache", whoever she might be at a given moment, and heartlessly inserts anti-pregnancy clauses into modeling contracts. They could have been cartoonish villains, but the pair possesses too much chic and—let's say—panache, to let their characters become laughable."Fashion" aspires to be serious cinema, but given its theme and scope, should have opted to be light as a soufflé, the better to get its point across.