The Dirty Picture

This movie was extensively marketed and apart from the sleaze, also appeared to be a promising story and biography. The final output is quite disappointing.

The first half is enjoyable with Vidya Balan playing a "devil may care" character, some funny double meaning dialogues and sequences and general cheerfulness of the movie.

The second half is pathetic. The transition of Vidya from a successful star to a self-destructed wreck is not at all convincing and Balan fails to impress. The story is very patchy and disorderly. The end is specially an overkill with the bridal dress and the sleeping pills. The kind of character Vidya plays wouldn't act like a helpless and pitiable character of 1960s. I guess the only good thing about the second half is the attention paid to Vidya's makeup - the eye bags, clothes that suggest many extra pounds and the paunch.

As for the other aspects of the movie, Tusshar looks mentally retarded as usual. He should probably only play mentally challenged characters as he wouldn't need to act much and would fit right in. Whoever wrote the dialogues tried to hit a six off each delivery. He needs to understand that each dialogue can't and needn't be a punchline. Emraan Hashmi should specifically get someone to write dialogues for him that are not always senseless metaphors.

Overall - 5/ 10 rating. Watch the first half for some lighthearted fun and a few laughs. Don't bother with the second half.

Some people watch a movie for its elegance, good acting and high production values. Others watch movies for their sleaziness, skin display and controversy. How often do you get both the sides leaving the theater satisfied thinking that they got a great value for money? Milan Luthria presents The Dirty Picture. In the words of Silk Smitha, a film works for three reasons; Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment… And The Dirty Picture is entertainment. However, it's a movie for Adult audience who can take the kind of humor and exposure it has to offer.

The Dirty Picture (DP) is story of a South Indian actress Reshma, popularly known as Silk. Rajat Arora's script keeps flirting with glamor of showbiz and the bitter realities faced by a girl running away from her house to become an actress. To the extent where she eats only a spoonful of sugar once a day as her meal. It exposes how despite criticizing the amount of exposing on cinema; the masses actually enjoy the skin show and that sex sells. The story is a rather predictable tale of rise and fall of a female actor and whatever happens in between, however, it's the treatment and performances that make DP a thoroughly enjoyable watch for lovers of almost all genres.

There are two more things that make DP stand ahead of other recent films. First is the outstanding background score. From the evergreen Naka Mukka to the entertaining 'Ooh Lala' use in the background along with the SFX, background music is simply superb. Secondly, the fiery dialogs are probably the best thing in the entire film. One jewel after another. So much so that you cannot even keep count on them.

Bobby Singh's cinematography is first rate. His best work to date even though he was an unexpected choice. When you have to show sleaze and skin, it's a tough job to still stay classy and Bobby Singh does exactly that. Especially the way Vidya's being overweight has been shown is remarkable.

DP is loaded with powerful performances. It's not very easy to find Emran Hashmi in a bearable role. I don't know why a talented actor like his keeps wasting himself in his serial kisser movies. It was once again Milan Luthria after Once Upon A Time in Mumbai (OUATIM) who took out the best in him. Tushaar too is bearable. Can you believe that? Every single supporting character has done a fabulous job. Rajesh Sharma in another major role after No One Killed Jessica (NOKJ). Navin Gothi, the actor playing Vidya's lucky charm and the director who first kick Vidya out of his set are especially very good. Arya Banerjee makes her presence felt as a new-comer Shakila. Vikas Shrivastav as casting director who sends Vidya out with a 5 rupees bill and Sarang Sathaye as choreographer George who gives Vidya her first song are noticeable in their cameos.

And then comes Naseer Uddin Shah. Who else could have done a better job than NS as the aging malicious actor? He gets into the skin of the character of Surya and does a splendid job of it. Despicable and convincing.

And last but not the least is Vidya Balan. What a powerhouse of an actress. She started the year with NOKJ and has ended it with The Dirty Picture. Totally contrasting roles. In one she was a nerdy homegrown nonentity and in the other she is the sex symbol of the industry calling herself Entertainment and boy, how she excels in both the roles. Watch out for her award ceremony speech, her early scenes with Naseer and the climax. Easily the best female lead performance in 2011. Filmfare worthy material.

The real hero of DP is Milan Luthria. How far has he come from Kachhe Dhaage days? If he was very good in OUATIM, he is even better in DP. Complete grip on the screenplay, taking out the best from the actors no matter how small their roles is, creating an 80s atmosphere still looking totally different from Om Shanti Om and Action Replay, this is a director how is in command. This makes the sequel of OUATIM the most anticipated movie of 2012 as far as I am concerned.

The Dirty Picture hardly has a dull moment. It does get a bit slow when it goes to the soft side of Vidya and Emran, however, that too remains an integral part of the storyline. Do keep in mind the 18+ rating of the film before going to the theaters and keep the expectations on those lines. If you do, you are up for a treat.

A fat lady from a humble background struggles and succeeds into making waves for her seductive moves in the silver screen. The above sentence it self creates a lot of hype and curiosity when transformed into silver screen. But not all films are equally great on screen as it is on paper. The Dirty Picture is one such film which could have been far better if the writer chose to be more risky like Silk herself. Silk Smitha is known to almost all Indians of different age groups who have satisfied their inner fantasies through the videos of this dusky seductress of 80s.Its a huge task in bringing out a character as challenging like Silk who death was as mysterious as her life. Coming to the film let's dissect it to figure out both the extremes. What went right :- Milan Luthria and Rajat Arora were totally successful in recreating the mindless era of 80s. The aging heroes used to play college kids, the settings were outlandish, the songs were bizarre with unique blend of eccentricity in the choreography and over all executions used to be loud with capital "L" – that summarizes the 80s films. All these elements were rightly incorporated in the film. The scene were the aging hero plays the role of college student and the way director says "fine shot sir" reflects the scenario of those times. But within such setting audience used to find entertainment,entertainment and entertainment thus a new star got created. With sensuality and boldness Silk rocked the milieu and rose to peak of stardom very early in her career. The growth of Silk has been portrayed with utmost sincerity and kudos to Luhtria for casting Vidya Balan arguable the Best actress of current bollywood. Rajat Aurora should be applauded for the gutsy dialogs which forms the crux of the film and provides ample 'entertainment" to the janata. The shallowness of 80s is rightly depicted in a subtle manner and evergreen hypocrisy of Indian people has been aptly portrayed. So what went wrong? Probably to provide 'entertainment" more emphasis has been given to the dialog baazi rather than a coherent script. The characters behave in a inconsistent manner. The reason for Abraham's hatred towards Silk is not convincing and neither his change of heart. In fact Luthria's dig on art cinema seems contrived. The narrative falls in the second hour following similar cliché loop. The psychological dip of Silk was shown in a hurried manner which doesn't evoke pathos and climax is one of worst scripted in recent times. What could have been a movement transformed into plain mediocrity. Like his other films Luthria's choice of subject is superb but every time he loses the scope of a masterpiece by playing it to the gallery. Coming to the acting department Naseeruddin Shah was average as aging superstar Surya. He started off in a brilliant way but then seem to be sleep walking throughout the film. Tusshar Kapoor is wasted in a insignificant character and he didn't rise above it either. Emraan Hashmi had a half baked character but he did justice to the role of Abraham who hated Silk. In fact the conversation between Abraham and Silk brought spark on screen whenever they crossed their path. Rajesh Sharma as Silva Ganesh was superb. Earlier seen in small yet significant roles in Khosla ka ghosla and No One Killed Jessica Sharma got a meatier role here. And as the successful producer with a unique mannerism he did better than the male star cast. .. Anju Mahendra was adequate in a small role of gossip journalist.And the main hero of film is Vidya Balan. As mentioned earlier one of the fine actress of our times Vidya simply rocked as Silk. Bold, inhabited oozing out ample amount of flesh and cleavage the territory was unknown for Vidya but she did justice to the role. Credit should be given to costume designer Niharika Khan and Moiz Kapadia, Vidya never looked vulgar even though she was playing dirty. Stupendous job by Bobby Singh, whose lens never tend to titillate the audience. Under able hand and being a powerhouse of talent herself Vidya showed the energy she had within. In every screen she was looking like the character and her voice only added to the gravity. Be it in the sequence when Vidya seduces a crowd in front of the journalist's house or giving a speech in the award function she showed confidence in herself as an actress. She is bound to sweep all award for her role in this film and No one killed Jessica. The other hero of the film is "ooh la la". Sung by Bappida himself the song is a time machine ride to the by gone era. And Pony Verma's choreography had the nostalgic feeling to it. Already breaking the music charts 'ooh la la" is a phenomenon. Sadly overall music album by Vishal-Shekhar is disappointing. Ishq Sufiana may be good to the ear but was totally forced in the film. Overall Vidya Balan excels in a weak film which had the potential to be a classic. But one thing which the film did succeed is showing the hypocrisy of Indian janata who openly criticizes sleaze but enjoys being dirty under close doors. Indeed a slap on the "clean" Indian society.

Great first half! So so Second half! Typical Milan Luthria movie, 80s setting, 80s music, people don't speak normally but in couplets. Vidya Balan outstanding, others mediocre. Naseeruddin Shah looks ugly but that's what the movie demands from him. The movie starts well with a young girl who is fascinated by movies and glamor. She runs away from her move a day before she is getting married. Turns up in Madras and tries to get to act in movies. She stands in queue for junior artists outside studios without luck. Then one day she gets a chance to finally do a song which no one else is willing to. And from there her career looks like taking off. But a minor setback almost forces her to go back. But not to be and she becomes 'Silk'. Vidya Balan as silk has done great work and the movie is all about her. 3.5/5

Imagine you are making a movie about something really energetic in its own way, for instance, the enormous amount of water that is required to fill a large Sintex tank on top of a building. You may begin by showing how water fills up such a huge tank, the energy of flowing water and so forth. It is however important to note here that it is not the water alone but also the magnanimity of the tank, the height of the building etc. that must get to play an important role. Without an uncompromising projection of how huge the tank is, how it was carried over to the top of a large building and, so on, it will become impossible to feel the enormous presence of the water that fills it.

And that would sum up how The Dirty Picture was executed. The energy of Vidya Balan in the central role was simply enormous. So much so, that the rest of the picture was unable to match up and consequently felt bland and weak in comparison. People often ask, if the writer writes the story, cinematographer films it, actors act and music director scores, what does the director get to do? The director must ensure that the energy of all people involved in the project is channelised in a single stream that gets projected on the screen and must be eventually, felt by the audience.

Director Milan Luthria fails miserably in his job here. A hammy comical Naseeruddin, a controlled Emraan Hashmi and a joke of a Tusshar Kapoor comprise the side characters around the unabashed and shamelessly unapologetic Vidya Balan. Her power over the crowd is merely shown each time by repeated shots of punching movie tickets, crowds of people rushing in and a different dance sequence on the screen. A shabby compromise! The promising biopic is not only slaughtered in its execution by the director but also in its clichéd screenplay (by Rajat Arora who adopts the same dialogue-styles from his previous OUATIM) that allows for an unnecessary narration sequence by Emraan Hashmi and a frequent spew of corny lines and witty (yet, effective) one-liners that end up disrupting the mood of the scene. The audience are however shamelessly satisfied without noticing the loose threads in the story. Like, what happened to the other character who sang with Silk? But who watched it for the story! People cheered when an extra half inch of Silk's bosom became visible or when she has finally got to kiss the medley of different heroes on screen. Special jeers and remarks for Hashmi's kiss. And I was in a multiplex hall.

Cinematography comprised of a sepia-ish hue to depict the 80s period in South India which went very well with the art direction but sadly, it avoided wider angled shots which could have been used to capture scenes involving Silk's audiences or at least to add authenticity to the period drama. This, coupled with the screenplay greatly limited the scope of this movie. The star power that the soft-porn star exhibited was neglected in various scenes. For instance, in the scene where Silk was creating a ruckus outside someone's house, the gathering of the crowd and their cheers were avoided and instead, the focus was on Naseeruddin, Tusshar and other star people involved. Better editing could have spiced up many of such shots.

Music score was mismatched and even slightly boisterous in some places.(I suspect that they must have hired the guy who gives those reaction sounds from Ekta's TV soaps for some of the scenes). Ooh La La was the only fun song. Honeymoon Ki Raat was a mind-boggler! Why was it even there? Sufiana was an unnecessary addition towards the end but they had to have it to show Hashmi kissing Balan.

Acting wise, however, this movie saves its face. Naseeruddin maintained the humour in the first half. Hashmi was consistent throughout. Tusshar was vapid and maintained a stupid look on his face in most of the scenes. Rajesh Sharma is indeed the discovery of the year. After a helpless police officer in No One Killed Jessica, he is unbelievably perfect as the B grade-ish producer. Expectedly, Vidya Balan saves the day by lifting the entire weight of the dirt of this picture and excelling herself as she has done in her past movies. Every performance since her past 3-4 movies has saved her movies from going noticeably awry. I was never a Balan fan from the start. But as of today, all I can say is that no one in Bollywood is in a position to make a picture that can sustain her energy and performance. It's like taking all the water meant to fill the Sintex tank and using it to fill your water bottle. The bottle is enough for you, not for the water.

Producer Ekta Kapoor must have a really weird sense of humour. This movie that holds the vulgar expectations of the audience responsible for the rise and fall of Silk targets the very same from the audience of this film. And apparently she has hit the right spot. Sadly, this is apparently what "Entertainment" in a film is all about! When I walked in for a fourth day's show, many people around me were able to repeat various monologues by rote and in sync with the actors. The Irony!