Fashion is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-written and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The film stars Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and Mugdha Godse in lead roles, with Arjan Bajwa, Samir Soni and Arbaaz Khan in supporting roles. Principal photography took place in Mumbai and Chandigarh. The film's soundtrack was composed by Salim–Sulaiman, with lyrics written by Irfan Siddiqui and Sandeep Nath.
The story revolves around Meghna Mathur, an aspiring fashion model; it follows her transformation from small-town girl to supermodel, the Indian fashion industry and the careers of several other models. Fashion also explores feminism and female power in Indian fashion. The cast also features several professional fashion models playing themselves.
Fashion was released on 29 October 2008 and received critical acclaim, with praise for its direction, screenplay, cinematography, soundtrack and cast performances, particularly towards Chopra's and Ranaut's. It was a moderate success at the box-office, grossing worldwide. The film was also a turning point in Chopra's career after several consecutive flops prior to this film.
At the 56th National Film Awards, Fashion won 2 awards – Best Actress (Chopra) and Best Supporting Actress (Ranaut). At the 54th Filmfare Awards, the film received 7 nominations including Best Director (Bhandarkar) and Best Female Debut (Godse) and won 2 awards – Best Actress (Chopra) and Best Supporting Actress (Ranaut). Since its release, The Times of India and Zee News have listed Fashion as one of the best women-centric films in Bollywood.
Plot
Aspiring model Meghna Mathur wants to go to Mumbai and become a supermodel. Against her father's wishes, who wants her to become a chartered accountant, Meghna leaves her home to find success in the modelling world. Meghna meets an old acquaintance, Rohit—an aspiring designer who assists Vinay Khosla. Meghna experiences difficulties during her early days; she auditions several times and is rejected. Meghna meets and befriends another struggling model, Manav.
At Rahul Arora's fashion show, Meghna meets supermodel Shonali Gujral and is ridiculed by the show's choreographer, Christine, and told to have her portfolio photographed by Kartik. To afford Kartik's fees, Meghna shoots a lingerie advertisement; she is mentored by another aspiring model, Janet. Meghna's lingerie photos appear on the cover of a magazine; her relatives in Mumbai see the cover and ask her to leave the house. She moves into an apartment with Manav. Meghna is noticed by Anisha Roy, an executive at Panache, a major modeling agency. Anisha introduces her to her superior, Abhijit Sarin, who is impressed by Meghna's ambition and confidence. Panache's top model is Shonali, but her drug abuse becomes problematic. Abhijit includes Meghna in a fashion show organized by Vinay Khosla but is replaced after a misunderstanding. Abhijit consoles her and decides to replace Shonali with Meghna as Panache's new top model.
Meghna becomes an overnight success, ends her relationship with Manav, and begins an affair with Abhijit. Meanwhile, Janet goes to work for designer Rahul Arora. Rahul's mother becomes increasingly concerned about his sexual orientation, so he asks Janet to marry him. Shonali's drug abuse worsens, and she attends a rehabilitation clinic. Meghna pays the price of her increasing fame by losing her close friends due to her changed attitude towards them. She becomes pregnant with Abhijit's child and reluctantly has an abortion due to conditions in her contract. After realizing that she was deceived in her relationship, Meghna tells Abhijit's wife about their relationship, and Abhijit ends Meghna's contract with Panache. Upset at the turn of events, Meghna descends into alcoholism; at a rave party she uses cocaine and unwittingly has a one-night stand. When sober, she feels guilty and returns to her parents in Chandigarh.
Broken and depressed, Meghna has lived in Chandigarh for over a year. Her father encourages her to return to Mumbai; Meghna rekindles her friendship with Janet and models for Rohit's show, where she freezes on the ramp after seeing the lights and cameras. She visits Manav (now an established model) to apologize and learns that he is engaged. Shonali appears on television as a mentally ill, homeless alcoholic; Meghna takes her in and tries to rehabilitate her. Meghna accepts an offer from Rahul to be the star model of his show, but a day before the show Shonali vanishes. Just before Meghna walks the ramp, she receives a call from the police telling her that Shonali is dead from a drug overdose. Meghna freezes; overcoming her grief, she walks the ramp, reviving her career and restoring her self-confidence. Meghna gives up drinking and smoking, and as the film closes, she walks the ramp in Paris.
Cast
Priyanka Chopra as Meghna Mathur, a small-town girl who becomes a successful model Kangana Ranaut as Shonali Gujral, a once-successful model who experiences a downfall Mugdha Godse as Janet Sequeira, a model; Meghna's best friend and ace designer Arbaaz Khan as Abhijith "Abhi" Sarin, a fashion tycon who is considered the "Big Daddy" of the fashion industry Arjan Bajwa as Manav Bhasin, a struggling turned established model Samir Soni as Rahul Arora, a fashion designer; Janet's best friend and later husband who is also the biggest supporter and well-wisher of Meghna Raj Babbar as Shobhit Mathur, Meghna's father Kiran Juneja as Hrishitaa Mathur, Meghna's mother Kitu Gidwani as Anisha Roy Suchitra Pillai as Avantika Sarin, Abhijith's wife Rohit Roy as Karthik Suri, a photographer Harsh Chhaya as Vinay Khosla Ashwin Mushran as Rohit Khanna, an aspiring designer who introduces Meghna to the fashion industry; Meghna's best friend and mentor Chitrashi Rawat as Shomu Manini Mishra as Sheena Bajaj Usha Bachani as Sheetal Sheena Bajaj as Meghna's cousin
Special appearances
Madhur Bhandarkar as Himself Karan Johar as Himself Manish Malhotra as Himself Konkona Sen Sharma as Herself Ranvir Shorey as Himself Wendell Rodricks as Himself Diandra Soares as Herself Alesia Raut as Herself Kanishtha Dhankar as Herself Pooja Chopra as Herself Rakshanda Khan as Journalist Atul Kasbekar as Photographer
Production Development In a 2006 interview with CNN-IBN, Madhur Bhandarkar said that he was preparing to make a film about the fashion industry; he thought the lack of Indian films on this subject prompted him to do so. He said he was fascinated with the industry, the models and their lives outside the ramp walks, saying "I was amazed at the overwhelming attention given to the fashion industry by the media and the public. I thought the idea of delving deep into the fashion world was very interesting and intriguing." He was excited about depicting the people behind the ramp because most people are unfamiliar with the fashion world.
Bhandarkar, who is known for studying his subject matter to make his films as realistic as possible, researched the fashion industry for nearly eight months, attending fashion events and shows. He spoke with designers, buyers, choreographers and models. Several media publications reported that the film was inspired by the lives of fashion models such as Shivani Kapur, Geetanjali Nagpal, Kate Moss and Alesia Raut; however, Bhandarkar stated that the story is fictional and does not resemble anyone's life. The media also reported that the film revolved around two homosexual fashion designers; Bhandarkar denied these rumours, saying the film did not revolve around male characters but had female protagonists.
Casting and characters
Casting began in October 2007, when Priyanka Chopra signed to play the lead role in the film. Chopra initially refused the role, feeling she would not be able to do it justice. 6 months later, she agreed to appear in the film because of Bhandarkar's confidence in her. The media reported that Chopra was unhappy with the first draft of the film and wanted script changes before signing the film. Bhandarkar was also unhappy with the first draft and agreed to rewrite the script. Kangana Ranaut was cast as the film's second lead; she was pleased with the script and found it challenging, interesting and exciting. In December 2007, Arbaaz Khan and Arjan Bajwa were cast opposite Chopra. After confirming the principal cast, the media reported that Bhandarkar was having difficulty casting the male roles, including that of a homosexual clothing designer. Samir Soni and Harsh Chhaya were cast as the homosexual designers, and model Mugdha Godse was cast in a parallel lead role alongside Chopra and Ranaut. According to Godse, Bhandarkar offered her a part when they were shooting a jewellery advertisement; a year later, she agreed to appear in the film. The Hindustan Times said that several models and designers played themselves, giving the film the appearance of a documentary.
Chopra said she studied method acting to make her character seem real. The actress said that her character is determined and added, "While her father wants her to become an accountant she aspires to become the leading model in the fashion industry". Addressing rumors that the film was an exposé of the fashion industry, she said, "It is nothing like that. Whatever problems that come up to my character in the film are not because of the profession but because of the choices that my character makes in her life". Ranaut said, "In this script my character is such that you get to express your emotions, emotions that you have never delivered before in front of the camera. So when I heard the script, it was something new and much more challenging, more interesting and exciting." Godse said that she accepted her role in the film because she identified with her character, Janet Sequeira, whom she described as "outgoing, vibrant, bold and outspoken". Arjan Bajwa described his character, an aspiring fashion model, as uncompromising, achieving success in his way. Samir Soni found his role as a closeted fashion designer very challenging, requiring research to flesh out the character and his personality. Soni's greatest challenge was to avoid a stereotypical homosexual character, instead subtly expressing his sexuality in his personality and relationships with the film's other characters.
Styling Rita Dhody and Narendra Kumar were chosen to style the film's characters. Dhody said it took nearly two months for UTV and Bhandarkar to persuade her to help design the film; she found the job challenging because she had to make everything as authentic as possible. Chopra had to wear 137 costumes in the film because her character passed through five phases. Initially, she was a "hep" character with brightly coloured, matching attire. Her make-up becomes lighter as she becomes a model and later a supermodel. When her career falters, Chopra's look becomes softer, demonstrating her character's lack of concern about her appearance before she returns to Mumbai. According to Dhody, Chopra's look is "very contemporary and very much today's look, but my idea was to streamline and take it to the classic side [rather] than making it trend-based".
Ranaut's character was designed to make audiences feel sympathy for her. Dhody gave her short dresses with low necklines, conveying the image of a supermodel comfortable with her body; during her low phase, she is shown in long T-shirts.