Madhur Bhandarkar is a worried man. The post-production of Fashion is not yet complete. First Priyanka Chopra had a very bad throat because of which she had to cancel the dubbing of Fashion. And now the film industry's workers' strike has put further time pressure on Madhur's precious film.

Says Madhur, "Our release is October 29, that's Wednesday, so we got a long Diwali weekend for our film. There's no way we could cancel. However the workers' strike brought everything to a grinding halt." Madhur feels films on release should have been exempted from the strike. "Films like Fashion, EMI and Golmaal Returns which are all releasing during Diwali have huge stakes. We can't afford to fall back. So maybe the strike should not be applicable to films on release. However, people like Mahesh Bhatt and Ashok Pundit worked hard at a solution to the strike."

The situation does seem worrisome for Madhur Bhandarkar, what with the strike and Priyanka's bad throat, which actually started with all the screaming she did for Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey. Says Madhur, "Priyanka did dub a bit on Thursday after her voice improved. But now she can't until the strike is over. I'm ready to do the dubbing with all the artistes in different studios to save time. But the strike has to be over."

Apparently, Priyanka is pitching her naturalistic performance in Fashion as a Chandigarh girl aspiring to be a super-model at a National award. Says Madhur, "I wouldn't like to comment on that yet. That's a decision I'll leave to the jury. But Priyanka has connected with emotions in Fashion that she has never shown on screen before. And she's a perfectionist."

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