We all knew what this movie was all about. It was going to flesh out meat, oodles of it and was going to titillate your senses. But it also promised to be a biopic of a Monroe’esque South Indian siren SILK, whose rise was as meteoric as her eventual demise. While the movie lives up to the former, it fails to be a sensitive or intelligently made biopic of a remarkable woman, who captured the imaginations of a generation.
The story is simple. A naughty girl wants to be a dancer in films. She fantasises about a superstar and wants to work with him. She quickly realises that in this world of men, she has something that could make her rule one and all. And she decides to use it. So she briskly makes her way into the pants of the superstar and the dreams of thousands. Suddenly, films are only watched for her 5 minute dance numbers. She becomes bigger than the superstar. But her infamy grows with her unpredictable behaviour and causes her eventual fall.
The problem with the film, is exactly the same as the films it shows Silk act in. It shows that in the 80s, producers, actors etc were willing to stoop as low as they could to sell tickets. The society at large disapproves the same because it’s just exploitative stuff. Now, the Dirty Picture also falls into the same trap. In order to sell tickets, Milan Luthria has concentrated more on Vidya’s bosom than on the screenplay. Rajat Arora, of “Once upon a time in Mumbai” fame, concentrates on doling out one dirty dialogue after another (just to get some cheap laughs and hoots). Though some dialogues are impactful and seem good in the beginning, Rajat goes overboard with the hyperboles and then these punch-lines start punching your patience. The background score is heavy and suits the era of exaggerations. "Oh la la" is the only real stand out in the music department, as the 2nd song is forgettable and the 3rd with Emran is a misfit! Yeah, suddenly the 3rd song becomes a classy affair and looks completely in-congruent with everything else in the film.
The rise of the star is given more importance than the fall and hence things start turning around for the damned damsel in a hurry. Suddenly people turn against her, suddenly those who hate her start sympathising with her. The most ridiculous character is of a Hi-Fi page3 journalist, who doles out the most ridiculous one liners. It seems too artificial, almost forced. Milan Luthria treats the heroin as ruthlessly as the people in the film.
Naseer does a good job, Emraan decent, while Tushar Kapoor is downright ridiculous. But we all know that the film belongs to Vidya Balan. She gets into the skin of the character (Yes, skin is all she shows!) completely and does not look back for an instant. She makes you believe in the character she plays and that’s a testament to her portrayal. She is as comfortable doing the bosom thrusts as the dramatic scenes. Truly spectacular stuff, enough to get her the BrEaST Actress awards in most functions..... But she is let down by the shoddy screenplay, story and direction. She is let down, because the director, producer seemed to be concentrating more on the raunch than the “Asli story”.
I was shifting in my seat (of boredom) after the first half an hour. Things fluctuated from bad, to worse, to decent, but overall the film disappointed. I was expecting a more impactful, well thought out film. But alas, it turned out to be a dirty picture (both literally and figurately)
Rating : 4 / 10 ( 2 for Vids. Shez got balls!!!)
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