THE DIRTY PICTURE Review : Silk Appeal!

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THE DIRTY PICTURE
Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseruddhin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma
Directed by Milan Luthria
Music by Vishal Shekhar
Screenplay/ Dialogue/ Story Rajat Arora

To begin with, it is essential to separate facts from fiction. That is why all this talk about The Dirty Picture being a Silk Smitha biopic needs to be thrown out the window from the word ‘go’. Sure, there are a few events taken from Smitha’s life as reference points and to top that, Vidya’s character is given the ‘SILK’ screen name by the producer who discovers her. Barring the few such similarities to the late actresses’ ooh la la rise to fame in the South Indian film circles, the rest of the fillers are the writer’s mere fantasy!

In Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture, Silk, is a small town girl Reshma (Vidya Balan), who runs away from home and is shown struggling to make it as an actress in the industry. Her persistence is what secures her eventually a two bit dance sequence. Much to the dismay of the film director Abraham (Emraan Hashmi), the song does make its way into the final cut of the movie, and the ensuing success opens new doors for Reshma to step into the bigger scheme of things. However, this also means she needs to get into the good books of the people who call the shots in the cine world, like producer Selva Ganesh and superstar Suryakanth (Naseruddhin Shah). Reshma does end up selling her soul to find a footing in the industry as Silk, but realizes its true worth only once the harsh realities of the showbiz world begins to settle in. Branded vulgar and sleazy, the rebel in her keeps throwing caution to the wind because the only thing that matters to her is that Silk remains to be in fashion.

Vidya Balan puts it all out there! She takes on a role that demands a gamut of emotions and she comes out strong on all cylinders. Breathing life to the role of Silk aka Reshma, she becomes primo reason for one to check this film out. Here is a rebellious character that comes bursting out from a cliché ridden film, and Vidya’s bravura performance is a treat to behold. The scene where Vidya watches her on screen avatar with child-like anticipation in a cinema hall is definitely one of the scenes of the year. Easily the most terrific of performances to come from a Bollywood actress in recent years, Vidya absolutely nails it in a role that none of the top actresses would even dare to attempt.

Another man who is having a ball of a time is veteran Nasserudhin Shah. Having missed out on the ‘heroism’ back in his glory days, he is here catching up on all the fun that the Jumping Jacks and Jhakaas Kapoors were up to back then. Rajesh Sharma as producer Selva Ganesh and Anju Mahendroo as the gossip mag editor are impressive. Tusshar and Emraan Hashmi fail to rise to the demands of their roles.

Kudos to the entire team of The Dirty Picture for their no holds barred approach in tackling such a bold heroine oriented topic. Director Luthria sets things up well to begin with in the first half. Though mostly lampooning the industry, it does work and is well aided by Rajat Arora’s writing. Even enjoyed Suryakanth’s intro sequence where he is shown to shoot down change from a bank note. Silk’s rise to fame is charted well enough and keeps the audience engaged, and you do not mind the occasional puerility. By interval time as Silk walks off the award ceremony delivering an over the top acceptance speech, it leaves us with the promise of further spark and crackle but it all fizzes out post interval.

However thereon, the writing stops being realistic and every other dialogue seem to be vying for the ‘one-liner’ of the day title. The dialogues get stocked with double entendres and keeps going over board and getting outright cheesy. The narrative too begins to go all over the place, as you can find the makers struggling to reach the inevitable climax. Tusshar Kapoor is introduced as a wannabe writer in a track of convenience to take the story forward. And once the writers reach a dead end with that, they reintroduce the Abraham-Reshma episode, trying to give Emraan Hashmi a go at things. It is quite laughable to see the extent a director goes to upstage a dancing star, but the film maker unapologetically exploits it for the obligatory song and for that trademark Hashmi kiss.

By then, the second half takes a beating and you realize once the end credits roll, for all the efforts put in by Vidya, the role of Silk deserved a better treatment and probably, a better film.

Cinematography and set designs are well done, and amongst all the songs in the film, it is still the Tamil track Nakkumukku that leaves an impact.

Despite the short falls, The Dirty Picture, very much like Rockstar, works thanks to the performance of the main lead. The film in general may draw mixed opinions, but the brilliance of Balan in the role of Reshma aka Silk remains inarguable. However as a film, The Dirty Picture, though executed with élan, suffers from the task of trying to please all. And this is a factor that shall remain in our movies, as more film makers approach a subject, unsure of which rows of the cinema halls they need to cater to. In the words of smashing superstar Suryakanth, ‘It’s a curse….It’s a curse!’

Rating: 3 / 5

-Joxily John

Jox John

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