Would you like to know about a women oriented film targeted only towards the male audience? That exactly is Market - A film dealing with prostitution that neither has the realistic feel of Madhur Bhandarkar's Chandni Bar nor the sensitivity of Gulzar's Mausam or Shyam Benegal's Mandi. In fact it makes zero sense in comparing Market to such classic masterpieces, for the only films you could relate Market to are those exploitative Z graders targeted towards the lower stall masses.
Would you like to know about the unstable storyline that constantly bounces between prostitution, underworld, romance and revenge? Would you like to know about the sleazy screenplay that's stuffed with Hyderabad's brothels, Mumbai's dance bars and Dubai's Don dens? OK just for formal detailing here it goes. Supposedly inspired from a real-life story, the film dodges round Muskaan (Manisha Koirala) an under-aged girl, forcibly married off to a Sheikh who sexually abuses and subsequently divorces her. As Bollywood luck would have it, Muskaan is forced into prostitution at a Hyderabad brothel. Meanwhile she's simultaneously fighting her case of marital torture against the Sheikh for eight long years, but in vain. Further she's forced to leave Hyderabad when the brothel is raided. Destination next? Mumbai obviously, where she upgrades herself to an upper class call girl, thanks to a coworkers Lisa (Suman Ranganathan) and Isha (Shweta Menon). Divert to Dubai, where the girls lure an underworld bhai (Govind Namdeo) through latka jhatkas. The trauma progresses in the contrived climax with Muskaan wreaking revenge on the Sheikh. The point where the movie deviates from its contemporaries like Chandni Bar is in the director's inability to smoothly develop the proceedings of the screenplay. For instance, Muskaan's transformation from a Hyderabadi prostitute to a sophisticated call girl is least convincing. Jaiprakash's direction lacks the hard-hitting punch required for an unusual theme he opts for.
What more? Would you like to know about Masood and Meeraq Mirza's dialogues that offer nothing new other than repetitive abusing that induce more cheap whistles than claps? Would you like to know about Altaf Raja's ear-jarring garbage that's termed as music, inflicting mental anguish on the listeners? Would you like to know about Thomas. A. Xavier's cinematography that's consistently devoid of lighting effects? Would you like to know about the editing that's conspicuous by its very absence?
Want more? Would you like to know about Makrand Deshpande hamming in his underdeveloped character of Kaalia Anthony? Would you like to know about talented actors like Sayaji Shinde and Govind Namdeo who go overboard? Would you like to know about the uniformly amateurish performances by Suman Rangnathan and Shweta Menon in their South Indian accented dubbed voices? Would you like to know about the screeching Manisha Koirala who is off lately following the Mithun Chakravarthy path of C-grade masala movies? (Ek Choti Si Love Story, Jaani Dushman, Escape From Taliban and obviously this one to name a few)
Would you still like to know about this Market where everything on sale is rotten?
