Straight away coming to the point, at one end we have film-makers highly inspired from the west who keep borrowing ideas for their new Hindi films on a regular basis. Whereas on the other we have directors highly inspired and in awe of themselves and their own previous works like Ram Gopal Varma and Madhur Bhandarkar who keep churning out exactly similar movies one after the other following a careless attitude.
So assuming you have already seen Madhur's PAGE 3, FASHION and HEROINE, this is the director's 4th film on the same subject portraying it from a different angle, assuming that the viewers have no thinking mind of their own, ready to accept anything and everything coming from a big name served with some attractive, eye- catching toppings. In fact if you include CORPORATE also in the above list then this is Madhur's 5th film on the similar topic and he surely deserves another National Award for this unique & amazing creative urge unarguably.
Moreover, this time the case gets even worse because in CALENDER GIRLS you don't even get to see any of those elegant shots, rich looks, great performances, hard hitting dialogues or the realistic feel Madhur was once known for. Also the film surprisingly appears quite close to a typical B-grade project largely depending upon its sexual content and glamorous appeal with noting great to offer in its script, execution, cinematography, background score or even music or lyrics.
No doubt as a writer-director Madhur tries to put in everything read in the daily newspapers on the screen (as usual), like the rich entrepreneur releasing a famous calendar (pointing towards Vijay Mallya), deep links between heroines-cricketers and bookies, girls from TV and films getting into flesh trade, the lucky ones getting married to rich industrialists (to be their trophy wives), the clever ones bagging big films with their own selfish ways, the opportunists walking into programs like Big Boss and protests planned by various parties against Pakistani artists performing in India. But since the viewers have already seen many similar references in Madhur's last 3-4 films, one doesn't feel like watching anything fresh or thought provoking at all in those 2 tiring hours.
Besides, as a viewer you honestly feel like leaving the theater when the director appears in the film playing a cameo (as himself) and then indicates towards his next project too called AIR HOSTESS, once again talking about the same things so carelessly. To be honest, while watching CALENDER GIRLS, I was really feeling sorry for the girls Kyra, Avani, Ruhi, Akanksha and Satarupa, who must have had great dreams after fetching the reputed project of the well-known Madhur Bhandarkar, only to be ditched by the director by making such a jaded product.
Interestingly CALENDER GIRLS strongly reminded me of a novel titled SAAT SAAL BAADby the renowned Hindi crime-thriller author Surender Mohan Pathak that also revolved around a group of 'Fashion Ramp Girls' and their super-rich mentor introducing them all. In the novel, the girls get invited for a grand party in Goa after seven years of their initial success and then one of them gets murdered in the resort raising fingers at everyone else attending the celebrations including a young lawyer. The climax of the novel truly shocks you, as expected from a great murder mystery and the revelation once again forces you to think about the proceedings right from the start finding the given clues.
I really wish someone had given this novel to Madhur Bhandarkar before making CALENDER GILRS and if only he had made it on this particular plot, the film would have been pleasantly different and a much better, engrossing watch as compared to the current torture.
