Ever since I’d heard about Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture (TDP), I
was a little more than excited. Of course the name was attractive but when I
Google-d Silk Smitha and got to know about her story, I was thrilled that a
movie with such a subject will be made. Then came the promos and the movie had
me on the first line of ‘Ooh La La’. The skin show on television was slightly
funny but then came the reviews. I mostly relied on The Hindu and the Crest edition of Times Of India and I was mesmerized. I knew I had to watch this
movie in a theater.
Very honestly, I was quite disappointed.
I missed the first 10 minutes of the movie – and came
to realize later that I wouldn’t have minded very much had I missed whole of
the first part. The minute I sat on my seat, I encountered the first heavily
punned dialogue. Ignored. As the movie progressed, Vidya’s struggle attracted
me. It was impressive to see her dressed like a South Indian but with the
boldness of god-knows-where. She looked the enthusiastic, young kid who’d do
just about anything to get herself in the industry. Then came her first shot.
It was mind blowing, literally. And I still haven’t forgotten the really tacky
way in which her tongue moved around. But I ignored that too, thinking that
would one just one instance. But what the hell, the first part of the entire
movie was filled with the same moves, moans of different pitches and the
awkward tongue. She herself had said that this movie doesn’t get vulgar. If you
talk about dressing style, well maybe
but the moves – downright vulgar. By the intermission, my head was throbbing
and I had half a mind to leave the theater right away. But I wasn’t going to
waste my money. After the interval, began the story of her downfall. She was
definitely affected by the men in her life – Nasseruddin Shah, as ‘Smashing
Surya’ and Tushar Kapoor his brother. Love finds her in her biggest hater
Emraan Hashmi but he was a little too late. The double standards of these men
force her to take an arrogant stand against the world and completely kill her
after the face-off of with the newbie Shalaka. Her production venture fails, she
has nothing to live for and the last offer she gets is from an adult movie
maker. She realizes that Reshma was lost somewhere in Silk’s extremities and
commits suicide.
There are no conversations in the movie. Every actor
has a set of lines which are double entendres and sound more like dialogue-baazi. Full of innuendos, every line,
every move is suggestive. Nasseruddin Shah comes off well as the chauvinist superstar
who could make an actress his heroine and his mother at the same time. Tushar
Kapoor is the vulnerable male living under the shadow of his brother and has to
pay heed to him more than Silk. Emraan Hashmi is the director who hates sleaze
but ultimately ends up making a film with a lot of it. As an autobiography, it
is probably worth watching but as an independent movie, it pretty much fails.
Questions like is this the fate of women
who bare all are rendered useless since this movie is primarily based in
the 80s. Vidya Balan is a wonderful actress but she overdid it. Her belly was
attractive only for the first few minutes and soon became a bag of flesh. Too
much cleavage, too much vulgarity makes Vidya fail. The only part where I felt
a bit of remorse was when she dies without meeting her mother.
The movie only deserves two stars.
I am surprised how you generalized Viday's style of dressing in the movie as "south Indian".
ReplyDeleteDhanya, not throughout the movie. Only when she comes to audition, with the saree and gajra. Didn't intend bias. Her dress up initially was not how usually north indians wear sarees. I meant in the sense that her dressing sense conveyed a sense of simplicity but her speech and thought was bold.
ReplyDeleteGood review of a bad movie. You shouldn't have expected anything better from Ekta Kapoor though, the lady must stick to television! Vidya Balan is an overrated actress and she went way over the top in this case.
ReplyDeleteAnother one in the slew of worthless movies this year :(