Fashion - good, bad and ugly sides of reel life and real

I would like to begin with a spoiler alert for all those who haven't seen the film, this write up may reveal too much or affect your opinions. please proceed only if you comply with the consequences

Fashion is made up of stellar performances,inconsistent direction, fewer gripping moments,fewer scenes where editor was awake, good dialogues, better cinematography supported by presence of more glamorous names than i can count on my fingers and toes, functional music, okayish supporting cast, a non existent script, completely predictable story, glossed up production design after a long time surprisingly by Nitin Desai and 3 hours of endless Priyanka Chopra. It left me with mix feelings like a man who has been teased but not been laid. It showed promise, it delivered at intervals but all of it at a pace so slow and in such a predictable 'fashion' that anyone would suffer from

The problem with Fashion is it tries to fit in too much and in the process doesn't communicate one single message to its viewers effectively like the director's earlier movies. I have silently maintained a grudge against the director of this movie for a long time. I like to believe that all his earlier subjects - Chandni bar, Satta, Page 3 and Corporate ( excluding his offerings like Trishakti, Aan and Traffic signal) were dealt in a focused single dimensional manner. Constant hellish depiction and misery, unhappiness and suffering in all his movies left a bitter taste in audience mind making them supposedly hard hitting. They all had an underlying message for the masses saying all that is glamourous is hollow, short lived, ends up horrid and wanted them to thank their stars if they are not exceptionally rich, famous or good looking cos that would surely be a bad news as his realistic movies show.Thats probably the reason they were successful cos they gave the audience what they want - a feel good factor that our lives are better than all those people's who we think have advantages over us.

I believe Fashion provides redemption to him in this department. We see a positive side of the coin as well even though it comes too late in the story and drags like rest of the movie. The protagonist emerges out of her hellish life but you have had enough of fashion by then like a dark chocolate cake you cannot get yourself to finish the last morsel of.

None of the scenes in Fashion create an impact to do justice enough to the scope of the story, camera work, performances, look & scale of the film. In spite of all this panning, its a brave effort, refreshing in look, evolved in sensibility, flawed like most bollywood projects but heads and shoulders above ordinary or average stuff that you see. Priyanka Chopra gets a major credit for it as she gets into skin of her character's every mannerism, her hesitations, ambitions, heart breaks, self loathing, a la lady macbeth. I say that in spite of hating all the cliches like a pansy make up artist being bullied, supermodel dying of drug overdose, lingerie photo shoot that our lead does not want to do, adultery that she regrets after a while, so on and so forth, I give Fashion 7.5 on 10. Its the 25 % that they didnt get right that bothers me ;)

Girls amongst the crew are smartest in this movie with Priyanka delivering her best performance till date, Kangana being as effective as always but wasted majorly with a small role and Mugdha Godse being fresh as a daisy, confident enough for most people not to notice that this is her debut. Boys prove to lag behind but Sameer Soni, Harsh Chaya deliver substance and dignity to their small roles as gay designers. Arjun bajwa has a good delivery only in one break up scene before interval. Arbaaz is effective in some scenes and completely funny faced in others as a corporate head honcho of India's top model management firm whose full time occupation seems lusting over his models and seducing them.

Coming to the real life element of the movie, all the inspirations for wardrobe malfunctioning, rehab of gitanjali, arrogance of Shivani Kapoor on being selected as face of Lakme and then having an attitude and drug problem, faces from page 3 like Nisha Jaamwval, Suchitra, Prahlad Kakkar, Shane and Falgooni Peacock, Karan Johar, Narendra Ahmed, Atul Kasbekar etc etc. might not even be registered by large part of audience but they yet add to authenticity of the movie. At the same time these real factors make the movie predictable and boring. I hope people realise while seeing this movie that fashion industry like evry other is made up of good, bad and the ugly, its cause and effect like every where else, so they must not see the reckless behaviour and form opinions rather observe that success, arrogance, compromise on ethics and other such causes bring drastic effects but the moment you chose back the right causes, there opens a way for anew destination.

This review cant end without mention of all my friends and acquaintances who have worked on this project- Suchita for VFX, Daman as Salim, Shruti who has rendered Mar jawaan song soul fully, Dilshad who has helped in Make up, Anuradha Tewari who has helped in story, screenplay and dialogues and all the others whose names i missed while rushing out of theatre... lemme know what you all think of the movie ;)

Back from the 3rd gear lane of life

It was a moment that made me change the speed of my life... the momentum of my being. Nearly a year back, I packed my bags from the slow lane of being just an event conceptualiser and a freelance writer to be more. I didn’t exactly know what more was and how much more I could be but handling additional responsibility of being a business development and client servicing person along with the ideator/ writer seemed like a correct direction. Just like all visions and dreams, this too needed me to replace and redirect all I had for getting where I wanted to be with a faint promise of being happier when I get there. After many events, promotions, pitches, nights of staying back at work, losing cell phones, developing one sleeping disorder and numerous cavities, adding reckless partying and vacationing to my leisure choices, putting up with clients who are either impossible or insane, it seems more can never be enough for us humans.

I had jumped on to the rollercoaster ride for thrills, expecting the change from the mundane, knowing that the time that it lasts, I will have to put up my brave face. I will have to give it my all – courage, alertness, alternative reflexes as per my comfort at times and as the moment requires at others. I am writing after forever. Not that endless number of presentations, proposals, half hearted drafts of scripts that some producer wanted me to write, some dialogues for a veteran dance guru’s own show on television teaching Indians how to dance, didn’t count... just that for me that was auto pilot.

It was my need for money writing some of those and need to stay on the job doing a few, a desire to prove myself to the colleagues and superiors pulling off some smart cocktail documents which tasted nice to them. I went by their guts, sold it on prices that I feel suit it, and stretched myself to be able to pull off a series of seemingly impossible manoeuvres one after another, consistently.

Sometimes, I was crowned amidst thundering sound of applause and at others leashed like a slave with some choicest abuses echoing in the air. It is only last week when for 3 days I could pause my life and stopped filling my overflowing platter of activities planned or unplanned. I could look back at like this diwali and finally put a finger on what was decreasing throughout the period of increased fame, power, capabilities, social network, collection of books, DVDs, clothes and friends.
It dawned on me this week that my exhaustion has reached its peak as I chose fear and insecurities to fuel my speed more than love and trust. The more I venture further towards my dreams in this manner, the more I will be uncomfortable. I know now that it isn’t only about reaching the destination fastest, it is about the quality. No matter how much I cherish the childlike wish of growing up as soon as I can and doing all that I want just today, it won’t be worth it. I have to make a choice. I have to let go of some dreams and chose the ones that give me a better journey – a more fulfilled life with chances to blog a few times every week. The one in which, when I decide to write a story, it would not be because a TV channel wants me to pitch for their next big show. It might be just because a story needs to be told. The one in which bank balance isn’t the only measure for success in life.

I am back today. I say that not because I have quit being in my job. I am a project leader now- a senior resource in a niche venture of a global giant. My income has nearly doubled on paper and so has my credit. Last year, I was in my late twenties trying to find a suitable master’s degree as my Post graduate diploma didn’t seem impressive enough to me. This year, I am nearer to thirties and find my patience with the wannabes missing when I enter a classroom now to teach as a guest faculty. My friends are matchmaking me to ugly guys who I dread to call but my faith remains that with a tiny fix in my head, I can surely reach my zenith of a happy, fulfilled life by changing gears and shifting lanes again. It’s only about keeping time, love and tenderness before everything.

My struggle continues but the realisation has seeped in. Recklessness has to be balanced with responsibility with a moment of care, of getting off the Ferris wheel of complications and taking refuge in a quiet dawn by the sea peering at the sun smiling on the faces of friends who were there by my side through this madness.