Calendar Girls review :
Take this staple Bhandarkar fare. A supposedly realistic and sordid tale of five models. One gets embroiled in a sleazy IPL like match-fixing scam. Another one turns in to a high society escort to make her ends meet. Still another one uses social media effectively to get sundry bollywood assignments. Girl no. 4 decides to be trophy wife of a philandering multi multi zillionaire. Last one changes her profession to become a TV anchor covering Page 3 type news. Really after a point, it doesn't matter if these girls happen to be calendar models or fashion ramp walkers or even page 3 regulars...cos they are more or less the same characters from the Madhur Bhandarkar formulaic world of cinema.
Actually, this film could have passed off as a sequel to any of Bhandarkar's previous efforts like 'Page 3' (2005) or 'Fashion' (2008) or even a 'Heroine' (2013)..its just that he chooses not to create any franchise out of them naming his latest film simply 'Calendar Girls'. But get it straight folks. This is basically a case of same old wine in a not so new looking bottle.
Backbiting, sexual exploitation, sleazy deals, career manipulations and adultery are all there. The situations drawn from widely read news items and a negative depiction of anyone and everyone in sight (from corporate honchos to media houses to so called power brokers) might have worked in Bhandarkar's past ('Page 3' in particular was quite insightful) but now these kind of stock plots and stereotype characters only invoke an unwanted deja vu feel. Truly, there's nothing in Calendar Girls that you don't know or haven't seen already.
To add to our woes, there is no Priyanka Chopra or a Konkona Sen Sharma or a Kangana Ranaut to liven up the drama and make us overlook some of the dull aspects (like the tacky production value which is Bhandarkar's regular sin). Here, the five calendar girls are as far from acting talent as Antarctic is from aamchi Mumbai. To give Bhandarkar his due, he tries hard to utilise them to the best extent possible but sadly, the girls fail him.
The supporting cast has Suhel Seth playing a certain (real life) liquor baron. He does a decent job. Rohit Roy as the hot shot photographer is passable. Suchitra Pillai and Mita Vashisht's characters look like leftovers from Bhandarkar's 'Page 3'. Just like the rest of his 'Calendar Girls' does.....
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
