Starring: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor
Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Director: Milan Luthria

BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

How far would you go in pursuit of your ambition? Reshma was determined to go all the way and she did. It paid off for a fleeting while too, and it cost her everything - mind, body and soul. Milan Luthria’s perfect pick for portraying “The Dirty Picture”, Vidya Balan entertains, entertains and entertains us, keeping up to her promise in the movie that she is in fact entertainment. 

Yes, Balan is bold and beautiful flaunting everything she’s got, be it her belly, bust or behind. Not that this has not been done before, but Balan bares all without a care, completely embracing the voluptuous woman she portrays, with confidence and flair. Said to be an unofficial biopic of southern phenomenon, Silk Smitha, the nature of the movie requires to deal with sex, sleaze and beyond. Milan’s treatment is cleaver and even classy at times, never really crossing the lines, but traversing far enough. Milan is very cognizant of territories he is bound to, and sticks within limits at all times. 

The story of Silk unfolds through the narration of filmmaker-actor Abraham (Emraan Hashmi), who shares a complicated relation with the protagonist, Silk (Vidya Balan). Reshma, a small town girl from south India runs away from home to be a super star in the city. She is shunned frequently until a happy accident leads her way to the silver screen. The taste of her minuscule success serves as a healthy appetizer, only increasing her hunger for stardom, super stardom. There is no stopping her now, as she transforms herself to the promiscuous and provocative Silk, totally unapologetic and unashamed of her sexuality. So, when an aging, reigning hero of the south Suryakanth (Naseeruddin Shah) tells that he had 500 women before her, she asks him if he had the same woman 500 times, sensuous smile and suggestive looks well in tow. Suryakanth takes her under his wing, and she is now an established sex symbol. She is the dark secret every man loves to keep, but no one wants to love, not in the light of day anyway. So after Suryakanth disposes her like yesterday’s trash, she finds comfort in Ramakanth (Tusshar Kapoor), her ardent admirer and Suryakanth’s brother. While Silk manages to turn star overnight, she fails to maintain her star status for long, a fate most stars eventually succumb to. With the arrogance that accompanies success and falling prey to her own unremorseful choices, Silk finds herself lost and disillusioned when her own mother slams the door shut in her face, gossip hungry journalists refuse her entry to their elite parties. Even as her foe turned friend, Abraham tries to reach out, Silk is unable to battle her sense of rejection that leads to alcoholism, financial loss and ultimately death. 

Vidya Balan started the year with No One Killed Jessica and is closing with The Dirty Picture. Versatility is clearly Vidya’s virtue, hard, almost impossible to find in any actor of recent times. Vidya’s strength is also her ability to embrace the characters she portrays with conviction. She is not afraid to play a plain Jane or pack in a few pounds. While the credit goes to the director for fine handling of a rather carnal subject matter, Balan is the prism that reflects different shades of her character - ambitious, ostentatious, vulnerable, uninhibited, insecure, lonely and wild with an unmatched understanding of her character sketch. She even manages to bring out a bit of empathy, just a little because this is no sob story, and Silk was certainly not sorry about anything she did. 

Naseeruddin Shah is brilliant as Suryakanth. His genius is on display, especially in the scene when he is asked to tuck in his tummy by the photographers and he does that with a sense of shame and pride balanced to perfection. Milan definitely managed to extract more than a smooch from Hashmi in this venture. Hashmi is a revelation, as a self-righteous director who loves to hate Silk and yet cannot get his mind off her. Tusshar’s character is the only weak link that seems a bit under defined. 

Take a bow, Mr. Luthria. You got a lot of things right here, be it striking restraint in not taking things too far or your pick of actors. Writer Rajat Arora deserves a special mention for his cheesy yet in your face dialoguebaazi, and plenty of it too. Vishal-Shekhar’s ‘Ooh la la’ and ‘Ishq Sufiana’ numbers are upbeat and catchy. The second half seems a little dry and kind of rushed even. A gradual transition from fame to failure would have enhanced the experience. I would still watch this Dirty Picture for Vidya’s Bombaat performance. Ooh la,la,,more, please!