The Dirty Picture review

When you are flying high, don't look down ... lest you start thinking how you got there !!

This was kind of the essence of the biopic released this weekend which was (not) based on any real person, especially if that person is a certain Silk Smitha. The resemblance is just coincidental.

Now to the movie. Nice attempt, with a few concessions and allowances made for the director considering the production house (Ekta Kapoor's) and the fact that he had to fit the producer's imbecile brother (or face castration) in an ordinary role which he could make look less than ordinary, it was worth a watch. And the USP of the movie is unquestionably Vidya Balan. It feels good to see a bollywood actress, actually take up a role where she is expected to look uncouth, in fact ugly (from a traditional north indian mindset, with no offence towards the south indian mindset). Bollywood in the past 5 years or so has broken a lot of boundaries, this is one.

I won't tell much of the story, it is the same old "rise and fall of a star" kind of story. All those means she thought will be justified when she reaches the end, slowly and surely bring her down, to her end, not the metaphorical end, the real one !! The movie kept a good pace for the most part, except towards the end, when there was a hint of a love affair brewing between Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan, which I felt was a touch unncessary, especially when they were creating a truly original screenplay not based on anyone's life (pun intended). I guess the producer or hashmi wanted a sufiyana love song to be done on him - hence they stitched up a handkerchief of a love story, as there was not enough time to stitch a whole dhoti. Emraan Hashmi's character, I think, would have looked more sober had he stayed a secret admirer, a person who turns from critic to admirer, and stays there ... not fall head over heels.

Another thing that I did not like about the movie, was that it had a 1 too many punches, and a lot of dialogues in general. I guess commercial mainstream cinema still does not value the importance of the absence of dialogues. Bollywood directors fill their movie with punches when they don't have confidence on their script and actors, because its easier for the public to remember a few peppy lines rather than whole characters. But here I felt Milan Luthria didn't do justice to her extremely talented actress' abilities, and the script which was decent enough. With all those punches, my fear is people would remember those more than the character Silk herself, or Vidya Balan's fine portrayal of her.

Naseerudin Shah did well within the constraints of his role, didn't exactly light up the screen, Emraan Hashmi was bearable, in fact he is getting better, and the less said about Tushar Kapoor the better ...

All in all I think this movie is a good watch, better than the director's last venture.