Since the time the first trailer of TDP went live, there has been an enormous amount of curiosity surrounding this movie. Milan Luthria’s next venture after the very successful and brilliant movie “Once upon a Time in Mumbai” coupled with Vidya Balan’s probably first time bold and sexy avatar was something that I was definitely looking forward to.
As there were so much expectations riding on the movie, the movie disappoints in many ways.
The Dirty Picture probably focuses more on shocking the audience with its bold images and double meaning sentences than the story itself. The story is confusing and convoluted many times. It revolves around a young plain village girl (played by Vidya Balan) who runs to Madras city to become a heroine. She is ready to do “anything” to grab a role. One accidental role and she transforms into SILK (very clearly laid out on SILK Smitha’s character from South India film industry).
There are three male protagonists in the movie. Naseeruddin Shah is playing a typical South Indian actor who can shoot Rs 100 note and break into 100 coins of Re 1. Tushar plays Naseer’s shy brother by profession a writer but most of the time either in awe of his brother or in awe of Silk. The last but the main Emran Hashmi who never gets his role clear but for a change doesn’t play the Dirty character.
The story revolves around Silk, these three characters and then again Silk. What makes it confusing is are we supposed to sympathize with her or accept her as a popular item girl. She is initially shown to be a clever, opportunist, who gets ready to drop anything that she wears for a break and subsequent roles. Later she gets affected by stardom and bias in the industry which subsequently leads to her downfall.
I believe Milan got obsessed with Vidya Balan’s first time bold image and decided to capitalize it to the maximum extent possible. In this endeavour, he misses the main story line. There are so many questions which are left to the audience to decipher. Why does Emran Hashmi hate her in the first half and then suddenly starts liking her? Is he a director, critic or an actor? Why does the journalist publicly write against her but keeps applauding and appreciating her in private? Why is Tusshar’s role required in the first place? Is being SILK good or bad? The second half probably is more puzzling than the first. At least in first there is a regular dose of “The Dirty Picture”.
All said above, the movie has its many plus points as well. The first is definitely Vidya. Vidya Balan puts in a towering performance and is clearly the highlight of the movie. She will not just amaze you with her sleazy costumes but will also win you with her acting. She is bold and bindaas. She does justice to both halves. The first one where she is naturally sexy and daring and the second one where she wants to continue with her image despite it not being working out. It is so obvious how much hard work and efforts she would have put in to live the image of SILK. Its only Vidya who could pull off such a role with such command. Any other actress, and there are chances the movie would have looked sleazy even bordering on soft porn. The movie will definitely hand over Vidya Balan the best actor award.
The make up man has also done a superb job in the second half including making her look overweight and then trying to conceal her fat.
All three male actors have put in a good job despite a lack of connect built into their roles.
The dialogues are another highlight. Despite being double meaning at many places, the dialogues have been written with so much power. This is in continuation with Once upon a time in Mumbai. Some of the one-liners were razor-sharp and witty at the same time.
Overall, The Dirty Picture is a one-time watch.
A note: Be prepared to whistles and loud roars from college students and others sitting next to you everytime Vidya Balan exposes herself or a double meaning punch is spoken. And I can assure both are there in generous quantities.
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