Movie Review- The Dirty Picture (Hindi)

For more reason than one, this turned out to be an eventful day. Yesterday I had one of the most awful lunch at our canteen. This almost immediately resulted in a stomach upset. Today I woke with a rumble from deep down and wondered if I should go ahead to the office. I took up the morning paper to check out the new cinemas in town and was stunned to see ‘The Dirty Picture’. The tug of war started within me- Vidya’s cleavage or Office? I opted for the former and straight away booked a ticket for the first show of the day.

Now I had this feeling of watching a dirty picture and prayed that I would be spotted by none. I got in there to see a pretty big crowd and that too a few family people and bunch of college girls. I wished if Silk had this popularity or lesser notoriety, she would have been alive by now.

The two reasons I could come up with for such a big crowd-

Silk was an enigma in her heydays. Back then sexiness were related to voluptuousness. Then the male actors were untouchables and role of the female counterpart was to merely submit to the whims and fancies of the hero. Even when the hero was portrayed as a Casanova, she had to be chaste and simple. That’s where the vamps stepped into fulfill the macho image of the hero. They appeared in all the skimpy, vulgar clothes and earned whistles in theatres and assured spaces in gossip. The negative image spilled to the real lives from reel and after the golden era, they deteriorated to obscurity.

But Silk was bolder, notorious and even handsome than her counterparts. She may have had to face the snide of the conservative women back then. Even then she had her aura around her. Before the aura deteriorated she committed suicide in most doubtful circumstances and elevated herself to the likes of Marilyn. The new generation fed with more graphic visuals find the old thighs and boobs a matter of joke. For them Silk is a mystery who still lives in her aura.

Secondly, it was the controversy generated on the vulgarity of scenes. No matter how much wiser we become after every fake controversy , our curiosity gets aroused in the next one. The raunchy stills released months ago unbridled the animal within us.

I will keep this simple with a few points. Why should you watch the movie:

This is not at all a bad movie but not a great one either. Even when the camera rolls in and out of Vidya’s flesh the director makes sure that the cinema doesn’t deteriorate to another skin show without content. The director shoes his naivety but Milan does a fine job.

To be quite frank the story line had to be predictable. Our film industry still lives with in the clichés. When the makers claimed it had no resemblance to Silk, I hoped they would twist it a bit. But as usual it’s the story of a yester year heroine who finds sudden name, fame and infamity. She has to lose everything and life in the end. But Milan makes sure the treatment is subtly different atleast to a large extent. The shots are bold and tickles your libido. There were whistles and catcalls throughout. At the end of it people had this paisa vasool feeling.

The camera and lighting were very well done. When there is no scope for such experimentation, he did prove his mettle and taste. Or else we would have slumbered off.

Naseerudin Shah was way awesome. I just love this guy. His mannerisms as the southie ‘superstar’ just proves why he is the finest in our industry. He is the guy you have to watch out for. Tushar was a surprise. He had to be there in his siters’ movie and he has come a long way from the initial goofy faced days. So is Emran Hashmi- he is not awesome but not bad either.

Vidya too did a commendable job. We have to admit her sacrifice. She had to live up in a negative limelight for a long time. The work she has done on her physique is not easy. I haven’t seen even the guys doing their homework this well. For an actress, her physique is her asset and losing it is not an easy decision to take. Its not the first time she does a seductive role and she does it with much gusto. She tickles your animal instincts and you feel you are the vile man ogling at her on the screen. Undoubtedly she is way above all those plastic dolls.(I loved the bra straps peaking out). I couldn’t help but notice when seeing her performance, the struggles to break into the Bollywood with ‘Aunty’ looks could have had parallels . She is a very under rated actor. There were many wonderful scenes , which she made memorable simply with her panache

The songs may not be trendy but fits the old era and were a pleasant experience. You can tap your feet for lala . The mindless wonders of 80s.

And the dialogues and one liners are very cheesy and smart. Even when the movie meanders at times to boredom, you're suddenly jolted alive with the a classic one.

Now coming to the bad part:

Movie starts off grandly and then from interval veers off to pointlessness and Milan wraps it all up with a predictable storyline. Three hours was an unnecessary pain and I missed my lunch.

There are times when I wished he did some shots with a little more panache. There was an award function, which went totally indigestible. Then the extras and the way they carry themselves in the background, I wondered how Milan okayed the shots.

Then there was a serious flaw in caricaturing Silk. She looked filmy and very negative. Or I would rather use the word one sided. It looked a bit single shaded and not at all creative. I found it tough to believe and wondered if the character influenced by Britney Spears. May be she was so in real life. But then that was a deviation from typical stereotypes.

And then the story confuses you in the timeline factor. You wonder if it's a non linear film at times. The location is also a big confusing factor.

Overall: It’s a one time watchable movie. Go in with your family :D