Lucky ticket. After The Third Strip, I am ready to forgive Madhura Bhandarkara, if not all, then much. Including his corporate style in the spirit of “Scandals-intrigues-investigations”. The film "Girls from the calendar" was shot in this manner.
So, the plot is the story of five beautiful girls who pulled out a lucky ticket in their lives: shooting in a popular calendar. And now they have only a year (before the release of the new calendar with the next beauties) to somehow have time to gain a foothold in the world of fashion, glamour, cinema. The film shows the most typical situations faced by the heroines, at one moment became popular, ranging from the attitude of relatives and friends to such shootings, ending with difficulties on the way to success.
Mayuri is a provincial woman from Rothak. Getting into the calendar for her is a chance to become famous, a chance to get into Bollywood. She is the only girl who is supported by her parents, who are also cute and naive provincials.
Sharon is from Goa. Shooting a calendar for her is a new experience, just another job. She does not believe that she will face something dirty and indecent, for Goa is also called a “nest of debauchery”, but this is not at all true.
Nandini from Hyderabad is from a family of successful entrepreneurs. She will not reach the business heights of her older sister, whom everyone considers the pride of the family. But Nandini also wants to prove himself, albeit through the shooting of the calendar. Let your family be proud of you too!
Naznin came to London from Lahore. She was transported to England by her boyfriend. She wants to prove that something is worthwhile without his support. And in order to star in the calendar, she goes to a conflict with a loved one and goes to India.
Bengalka from Calcutta also quarrels with the whole family because they are against filming. To be honest, I didn't really understand the motives of the Ferry. Did she break up with her family because of new prospects? Hardly ambitious. Rather, the desire for independence, the desire to live with your mind, and not the orders of your father and brother.
Of all the stories of these five girls, the fate of Naznin touched me the most. She burned all the bridges behind her and, when faced with problems, had nowhere to return.
Well, the most interesting thing for me was the story of Mayuri. Curiously, is this a collective image of a young starlet or does Mayuri have a prototype? Mayuri is not afraid to seem stupid (and maybe she is?), taking selfies with everyone in a row. She pays attention to everyone, sending a bouquet of flowers for the birthday of even her own driver. She does not hesitate to light up at someone else's funeral, just to earn money and become a little more famous. She flatters right and left, tweeting with her many followers, providing additional publicity for her film. Like a tank, it rushes to its target, as if not noticing obstacles. Also a very interesting character is the secretary of Mayuri, with whom she does her business.
I was glad that the film did not emphasize that success comes only through bed with the right people. Either this fact is such a cliché that it is already indecent to talk about it, or casting sofas are not so often found in nature, or the director wanted to show (and he managed to) other, no less important milestones on the path of the heroines to the top.
The film quite understandably floped, because the promotion was focused on aggressive sexuality, and the film was quite different. Those who were looking for “strawberry”, left disappointed, and those who could appreciate the director’s plan, probably scared off trailers and posters. And the film, however, is about goals in life - important and not so, about the integrity of nature, the price of popularity and whether you can (or want to) pay that much. About the price for which he is ready to sell himself: to sell the body, business reputation, future, dreams. (In the film, it is not by chance that the fates of Naznin and Nandini are in a special way connected - both of them sold themselves to the same person). Only one is considered decent, and the other is fallen. The lack of top stars also affected the small box office. Sorry. The movie is definitely worth watching.
Well, the film is also about the fact that even a lucky ticket does not guarantee happiness at the finish line.