Average Ratings:1.63/5

It’s a preposterously sloppy production, a film where the casting brief apparently insisted on excluding all those with any talent. A few new girls are wrung through an excruciatingly bad script and the film is inconsistent on every level: visually, tonally, and in terms of narrative.

On the whole, Calender Girls is too ordinary and routine to stand out, that too, with an all-new lead cast. It may attract the audience in the initial weekend but sustaining at the cinemas is a far cry. Flop.

It’s a pity because this story could have broken new ground. With glimpses of his original flair, Bhandarkar puts cricket enthusiasts, prostitutes, ‘pahwa’ brokers, philanderers, builders and bewildered middle-class mata-pitas together. He has his trademark touches of glamour, pathos and personalities but lacks power-packed acting to hold this together. Instead, between scintillating skin, syrupy sympathy and sheer sloppiness, the film loses grip, bite – and plot.

little sensitivity while dealing with that Pakistani character would have helped. It is irresponsible to portray a Pak actress, inviting fatwa in her country because she chose a glamour field in India, who loses her way and character just the way her nemesis back home predicted for her.And yes, talking about Twitter in every second dialogue won’t magically make the film modern and contemporary.

Girl, stay at home, and stay inside, or you will be forced into bed and-breakfast-service-to-men (yes, this crass line is from the film): is this a film about women having agency, or an outdated lesson on morality? A hurried after-thought, which talks of how these girls are really, truly proud achievers, comes right in the end. And its just that, an after-thought. The rest of it exploits€”smugly, tackily, uncomfortably explicitly€”young women being exploited.

Why did Madhur Bhanadarkar not name the film Fashion 2€². He brings nothing new to the floor and we have seen enough of his realism when it comes to the glamour world. Who would want to spend their weekend watching a film that takes you down the Fashion memory lane. The same old quick success and its flipside story. Yawn!

Calendar Girls is only about sex and sleaze presented on the pretext of unravelling the decaying innards of Bollywood and the cricketing world. It talks incessantly and very loudly about spot-fixers, sex racketeers, cheating husbands, corporate loudmouths and builders seeking a toehold in showbiz but never makes any sense at all.

Madhur Bhandarkar has always tried to make women centric films exposing the ugly underbelly of society. Here too he tries to do the same and as usual fails miserably. What could have been a thought provoking depiction of the dizzying heights of stardom becomes an unimaginative piece of humdrum. Ill go with 1 QUINT out of 5. Save yourself the trouble and give this one a miss.

The genesis of CALENDAR GIRLS has been undisputedly borrowed from his earlier films, wherein he showcases the yet another dark, but real side of the glamour industry. What really works for the film is that, instead of showcasing the ‘making’ of calendar girls, Madhur Bhandarkar has highlighted their life after the exposure to fame and success. The film’s narrative is simple, engaging and also hard hitting at the same time. On the whole, CALENDAR GIRLS can be watched for its wholesome entertainment value, hard hitting drama and engaging narrative. Or like Madhur Bhandarkar himself would describe it in one word…. ‘Jalwa’!