Dasvidaniya - clearly differentiates between living and surviving.

The protagonist Amar’s only excitement in life is making a to-do list every morning and then ticking off everything that he accomplishes at the end of the day. But unfortunately, destiny has some other plans stored for him. He comes to know through his doctor that he is suffering from stomach cancer and now only has just three months left to live. Amar has so many unfulfilled dreams left! He then sets about making a new to do list of 10 things. His last list of all the things he has to do before he dies. From making a foreign trip to telling his childhood love about his affections for her to meeting his best friend with whom he has lost contact. The film follows Amar’s journey towards fulfilling his wishes which also take him nearer to his death.

The ever-demanding nature of human beings is very obviously put forth by Amar’s ever increasing list. It tells something about ourselves when every time an item is checked off the list there are a few unchecked ones glaring at you. And as you see that, you find Amar taking a pause to just stand and stare - something that brings him immense pleasure. Dasvidaniya is one of those rarities that bring a smile that refuses to go while a tear rolls down. The dark humor too helps in keeping that smile. The hero of the movie is a common man and somewhere everyone can relate to it because there is not a single faked moment. It is a bitter-sweet story about a man who refused to die before he had learnt to live.

Completely, character driven, the charm of the film lies in its simplicity of its theme and its wonderfully etched characters. The screenplay is well woven with some moments that carry the power to remain etched in your memory even long after the film is over. Returning to the ambit of the dull working class protagonist that he almost patented in Bheja Fry Vinay Pathak delivers yet another bravura performance as a man who learns to live only when he learns he has to die. Vinay Pathak gets the sur of the tragic hero's comic escapades just right. He's partly Charlie Chaplin, and partly Robert Benigni. But finally this is an actor who does his own thing. The film is a must see for Vinay Pathak’s absolutely brilliant performance. First timer Shashant Shah has handled this sensitive slice-of-life cinema with a rare maturity.

All that glitters is not gold and that aptly applies to Fashion.

While a ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘The Devil wears Prada’ has the element of fashion and eccentricity ooze from every corner, a film like ‘Gia’ had powerful characters. The idea behind mentioning these films is not to bring a sense of comparison, but to highlight elements that seem missing in ‘Fashion’. Having watched Bhandarkar’s other movies, in ‘Fashion’ I felt he has not covered new ground, and instead of giving new insights into the world of fashion, he ends up strengthening the stereotypes.

The showstopper garment as a norm is always the last garment to be showcased in any fashion show across the world but in ‘Fashion’ the garment is showcased in the start of the fashion show! The front row of any fashion show consists of buyers from abroad, influential fashion editors, moneyed customers and fashion institute students but in ‘Fashion’ we have gay designers, modeling agency owner with his wife, floozies etc., Coming to the fashion designers in the film, all the male designers are gay! In one of his interview Bhandarkar claimed that he does a lot of ‘research’ for his films but sadly, it is all very obnoxiously superficial. The film is full of ad agency / fashion magazine honchos calling the shots, wild lifestyles, backstage dramas, wardrobe malfunction, casting couch... ouch, ouch, ouch!

All’s not bad in ‘Fashion’, the production design, costumes, styling are truly up market and a feast for the eyes, music is well synchronized with the lilting 'Mar Jaava' and 'Jalwa' as highlights. There are two major sequences that are simply outstanding. One, Kangana's wardrobe malfunction and two, when Priyanka exposes Arbaaz to his wife Suchitra Pillai. Apart from these the only other good things while watching the film were the comments audience were hurling at the film out of sheer boredom. The running time of almost 2 hours 40 minutes makes one restless, especially the penultimate 45-odd minutes.

Kangana Ranaut shows that she is one person who can get into the skin of the character and raised the bar with a superb performance, just outstanding. The thing that struck me most was the way Kangna did her role, the crazy part would have been easy for her since she has done such roles earlier also but the modelling part was what surprised me as she did look like a real model. Mugda is just about ok. But the movie ‘Fashion’ belongs to Priyanka Chopra, she is in the screen 90 percent of the time, and she is unimpressive to say the least and doesn’t even look the supermodel she is supposed to be.