Director Madhur Bhandarkar, known for making hard-hitting films on realistic topics, have been facing criticism off late, more so after the release of his last film Heroine. Many feel that his films are becoming repetitive and losing sheen hence. It was upto Calendar Girls, his latest film, to either break the perception or maybe strengthen it. Sadly, it’s the latter that happens. And frankly, nobody cares about watching a ‘similar kind of a film’ as long as the film is a well-made one. But unfortunately, Calendar Girls isn’t entirely a great film – it’s an average flick and worth watching only for lovers of Madhur Bhandarkar type of cinema!

The story of the movie: Paroma Ghosh (Satarupa Pyne), Nazneen Khalid (Avani Modi), Nandita Menon (Akanksha Puri), Sharon Pinto (Kyra Dutt) and Mayuri Chauhan (Ruhi Dilip Singh) are chosen among thousands of girls by a reputed photographer (Rohit Roy) for a calendar backed by businessman Kumar (Suhel Seth). The film traces the journey of these five girls as they go through their ups and downs in their lives post the calendar shoot.



Calendar Girls begins well. The girls are nicely introduced and from the start itself, one is able to differentiate between them. And kudos to Madhur Bhandarkar – one is correctly able to identify who is who till the very end – and this is no easy task considering these are five new faces. The Mauritius scenes are interesting, especially when the girls reveal their secrets. Post the calendar launch, the film oscillates between some nice and hard hitting to not to great and unconvincing moments. Paroma’s track is spicy but her decisions don’t seem justified entirely. The maker and writers should have established a solid base because if the base is weak, then the entire track can turn out to be shaky. Same goes for Nazneen’s track. Was it really so difficult for her to get work for a long period of time only because she was a Pakistani? Her struggle isn’t shown much. Nandita’s track is fine and her conversation with her father in law (Kiran Kumar) in the second half is damn good. Sharon’s story is again not entirely convincing but makes for a nice watch. The sequence in the party in the first half is the best part of her track. Mayuri’s story is very amusing and light. But after a point, it gets over the top. Also, Mayuri’s selfie obsession after a point gets too much. Madhur Bhandarkar tries his best to give a justified finale to each of the track.



All the 5 girls do well. Avani Modi gives a fine performance. She has the maximum emotional and difficult scenes out of the 5 in my opinion and she gives her best shot. Satarupa Pyne looks sizzling. Her track might be unconvincing, but she makes her presence felt beautifully. Kyra Dutt’s character is adorable and that’s half the battle won. She comes out with flying colours. Watch out for her newsreading skills! Ruhi Singh, filmy in real life as well, is apt for the role and plays her part very, very well. She has the right kind of ada and drama for the role. Akanksha Puri gives a decent performance. Keith Sequeira (Pinaki) looks dashing and gives a good performance. Atul Parchure (Tiwari) is funny. Mita Vashisht (Ananya Raichand) leaves a huge mark. Vikram Sakhalkar (Harsh Narang) is decent. Arhaan Chaudhary (Akhil Sud) does well, especially with his looks. Suhel Seth and Rohit Roy are a bit loud but it’s fine as their characters are such. Indraneil Sengupta is very likeable. Kiran Kumar (Harsh’s father), Gargi Patel (Harsh’s mother), Sharad Madhav Ponkshe (investigative officer), Anant Jog, Suchitra Pillai, Rushad Rana and others are fine.

Music is funky but might not have a recall value after a few months. We Will Rock The World and Awesome Mora Mahiya are best songs. Rohit Kulkarni’s background music is in sync with the film’s mood and feel. Harri Vendaantam’s cinematography is good, and great in the Mauritius scenes. Story is nice but screenplay (Madhur Bhandarkar, Anil Pandey, Rohit G Banawlikar) is a bit shaky. The makers have added elements like reality shows, match fixing scandal, high class escort services, women being forced to give up modeling by ‘progressive’ in-laws etc. All these add the required masala in Bhandarkar style but not all the developments in the film look entirely convincing. Madhur Bhandarkar’s direction is fine for most of the parts but could have been better. If he’s repetitive, that’s not a problem frankly. Most of the makers and actors in Bollywood try to make a film using a ‘formula’. Then why not Madhur Bhandarkar? Problem is that he doesn’t properly use the ‘formula’. If Calendar Girls had the punch like Page 3 or Corporate or Fashion, Calendar Girls would have been in a different league.

On the whole, Calendar Girls is strictly an okay film. Although it has its moments, it’s the biggest disappointment from Madhur Bhandarkar. The basic plot is interesting but it’s not been executed well. Also, the unconvincing moments take the charm away. Hope Madhur makes a strong comeback with Madamji!

My rating - ** ½  out of 5!