Model Meltdown and Other Long Tales

To truly experience a film from India (Bollywood), you must prepare yourself for at least 3 hours of random singing and dancing and no kissing on the lips.  The only problem with that is if you intend to watch Fashion, which does not have random singing and dancing.  It does have music video moments that interrupt the narrative, but the film still is a bit of an anomaly for a film from Bollywood.

Every once in awhile I get this urge to watch an Indian film, typically it’s right after I eat Indian food which must mean that my brain is directly connected to my stomach.  Perhaps that is why I watch so many Japanese films.  Regardless of the reason, I always have to prepare a bit so that I remember that singing and dancing are just part of the film.  My preparation for Fashion should have been patience because the film lacks the requisite singing and dancing.  Instead it follows another Bollywood tradition of being very long!  That’s not a bad thing, just something you need to be prepared for.  The problem is that any attempt by me to fully explain the film would take more words than I am willing to write, so instead I will sum it up in a very basic manner.

Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) decides she wants to be a model so she goes to Mumbai and becomes one (she is gorgeous).  We then follow her career to the very top of the modelling world and then all the way down to the bottom when she becomes pregnant and into drugs and then an attempt at becoming a top model again that does not work out the way it is planned but ultimately with a happy ending.  Along the way we meet Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut), who is the reigning queen of the runway.  Meghna overtakes her and she turns to drugs.  The two once again meet when both are down on their luck and Meghna attempts to save Shonali.  In yet another plot angle, we are introduced to Janet (Mugdha Godse), a model that will never reach the top but just happens to be friends with a fashion designer (she never told him until this film I guess).  They get married, because he is homosexual, and eventually they become the enablers for the return of Meghna to modelling.  I’m sure there is more but you get the gist.

I was impressed with a few things about Fashion, including the substitution of music videos and montages for singing and dancing numbers.  It gave the film a more modern feel while not losing the elements that define modern Bollywood.  The length of the film was uncomfortable, but it all comes down to what you are used to.   I watch enough American films to be sucked into the 2 hour limit of my attention span.  Anything longer and I get antsy.  The good thing about a film of this length is that there are many subplot that can be explored and the main plot can be fully explored.  In Fashion, this allows for the entire career of Meghna to be built up and unwind in a perfect pace that would have been ruined by a shorter film.  Although, a shorter film may have forced the director to be more succinct at certain times in the film rather than go through extended explanation.

Due to the amount of screen time, in order for this film to hold your interest; the acting needs to be effortless.  While in general everyone did a great job, Priyanka Chopra did an excellent job channeling a model with drive and ambition that gets sucked into the game (if you go back to The Wrestler, here again I question if it’s acting or something she has been through).  There is no doubt that Chopra is gorgeous, that would be an understatement, but she is able to tear herself down enough that the audience buys into her downfall.  All three of the main leads have to flirt with that fine line of being hot (they are models after all) and being good actresses.  The best acting comes from Mugdha Godse.  I’m not sure what it is, but her attitude really brings tons to her subplot with Rahul Arora (Samir Soni).

Even though I seem to be gushing over Fashion, it is only a short step from watchable to becoming a stereotypical tale of model gone bad.  Oh wait, it is the stereotypical story of success and what happens when you achieve it.  The story is old and played out, yet Fashion is able to do just enough to set the film apart from other rags to riches stories.  It may be the acting or it may be the subplots, but there is that little bit extra that moves Fashion beyond just  another model gone bad narrative.

If you’ve never experienced a Bollywood film, Fashion may be a good or bad way to start.  Good because you are not confronted with the random singing and dancing and bad because you may believe that all Indian films are like this when in reality, Fashion is a bit different.  It’s a fun but long film that may not break ground, but it certainly has enough ability and eye candy to hold your interest.