A few years ago, Kate Winslet made a statement by bringing curvy back into fashion. While the rest of the women in the West were turning bulimic and putting on show their anorexic bodies, Winslet did the impossible by showing off her love handles in movies for the world to view. A similar attempt was made by Vidya Balan in the film The Dirty Picture and boy! she pulled it off with those so-called ‘flaws’.
Inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, the sexy siren of South Indian films, the lady Madonna who conceptualised erotica in India, The Dirty Picture promised to titillate the audience with Vidya Balan unabashedly flaunting her cleavage from the start.
The Inspiration: Silk Smitha
As the film progressed, with Silk (Balan’s character) showcasing her almost exposed bosom, a lot of women shifted in their seats, while men applauded and cheered with raging hormones and mouths agape. Much-admired, mostly for her bold and colourful scenes in Ishqiya, Balan did not disappoint. Known for her on-and-off screen charm and choosing strong female protagonist roles, Balan armoured the arrogance of the Hindi language with aplomb and looked elegant despite the attire, which seemed like an extreme case of fashion faux pas.
There’s so much to write about Balan, but nothing about the story or the male leads in the film. Naseeruddin Shah gravely disappointed as there was so much that he could do while playing Vijayan, a well-known Tamil cinema actor. It seemed that Shah was consciously avoiding the much anticipated pelvic-jerks and super-hero tactics of most of the Tamil actors set in the mindset of pan-Indian cinemagoers (a la Quick Gun Murugan). He kept it simple, yet there was a Nasseruddin Shah touch missing in the film.
No Kissing, Only Seeing.
For once, Emraan Hashmi was bearable, zipping his lover boy instincts in his pants; an appalling mouth which didn’t turn into an infamous pout at the sight of his ‘love interests’ (If you remember, Murder!)
Then there’s Tusshar Kapoor, whose acting skills are nothing to write home about. But since you will notice him, it will remind you that the movie is an Ekta/Shobha Kapoor home production.
The dialogues are smartly crafted and invite applause and few cackling laughs from the audience.
The music was mostly forgetful, with the exceptions of Ooh La La and an extremely popular Tamil song Nakka Mukka which was predominantly playing with every appearance Silk made in the movie. The makers of the movie have officially acquired the rights of the song from the 2008 film Kadhalil Vizunthen.
There were a few unforgivable camera angles and boob-flashing, which we could have done without!
The movie exhibits the decline of an almost idol, and the deterioration of a woman who fell from the sky into the gallows. As a friend put it, “it’s a gradual decay of a perfect full-bloomed flower.”
Let me know what you think of this dirty fixture!
Written by Shubhra Rishi.
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