Critics rating: 2 Stars

Cast:  Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satarupa Pyne.

Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar

Produced: Sangeeta Ahir, Bhandarkar Entertainment

Written: Madhur Bhandarkar

Genre: Drama

Duration: 108 Mins

Expect all the Madhur Bhandarkar tropes when you walk in. The unnecessary use of ‘babes’ (and English being spoken unlike English), the shady men who betray our heroines, the one gay stereotype and the downward spiral into a murky world of the sleazy elite.

What takes the cake in this one is the director’s guest appearance in two scenes, as one of the calendar girls, Mayuri Chauhan (Ruhi Singh, also seen in The World Before Her, making much the same transition from modelling to films) gushes over him. “Maine bhi apni zindagi zidd pe banaayi hai, taqdeer pe nahi” she chirps before asking for a selfie with him. Save for this cringe-worthy scene and a slightly amusing one where she is paid for attending a funeral, Mayuri has the least bumps in her journey.

There are four others – Paroma Ghosh (Satarupa Pyne), Nandita Menon (Akanksha Puri), Nazneen Malik (Avani Modi) and Sharon Pinto (Kyra Dutt, best and most distinct of the lot). Steering away from the drug addiction cliché and onward into escort services and honey trapping, it follows the standard Bhandarkar plotline of downfall and redemption (though not everybody makes it to the finishing line).

Here’s the surprising part, though. The clichés work, if you go prepared for the kind of film you are about to see. Calendar Girls is Bhandarkar’s paciest film yet. The story is not about how the sizzling calendar is shot in Mauritius. It is about the aftermath – whether the girls are drawn to the darker side, dodging moral censure or milking the stardom for what it’s worth. And in another welcome plus, the women are not indulging in cat fights but have solid, rivalry-free friendships.

There is still an element of clunkiness to the execution, though that seems to be a trademark. The five parallel tracks give equal screentime to all the girls. Once you can get past the awkward performances (Pyne and Dutt hold their own, though) and the tacky English diction, the proceeding can be pleasantly fun.

Take Calendar Girls with a pinch of salt and ignore the hammering of the morality lessons as a means to dissuade anyone from being a part of the glamour industry. And also, it is a better film than Fashion and Heroine.