The Dirty Picture review: "Vidya sweeps us off our feet!!!"

Since the turn of the new millennium, India has undergone a sea of change in all spheres of life due to the influence of the Western world. Though various factors contributed to this inevitable turn of events, the film industry has to thank the one & only, Silk Smitha. In the 80's, to utter the word "sex" itself was considered taboo, so it was almost unimaginable to show skin on screen until Silk broke that mind set. Now Milan Luthria, decided to celebrate this sex siren in the form of a biopic titled "The Dirty Picture". So can Milan recreate the magic of his previous biopic "Once upon a time in Mumbai"???

Silk Smitha's life has been the talk of the film industry as it chronicled the meteoric rise of a highly motivated female unperturbed by anything until a point reaches where she presses on the self destruction mode. The film unfolds with Reshma (Vidya Balan) makes an escape from her home to fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. After facing numerous rejections, she finally lands the role of a seductive siren which catapults her to stardom & gives her the name "Silk".

Her romance or more appropriately, her sexual favours for the undisputed egoistical middle aged superstar, Suryakant (Naseeruddin Shah) lands her with numerous stereotypical roles much to the displeasure of noted film makers such as Abraham (Emraan Hashmi). Though how much ever provocative & bold she appeared, she yearned for the love of someone which eventually makes her dump Suryakant for whom she was nothing but an object of desire. At this juncture, Ramakant (Tusshar Kapoor) (Surya's brother), provides her with the support & love that she had hoped for. But things werent going to pan out as she had wished for.  So what eventually destroys her career & life???

There is no doubt that Milan Luthria in the company of Rajat Arora has given a very praise worthy movie both in terms of content & performances. Just as in "Once upon a time..", the dialogues here are equally fantastic as it conveys a lot in a sly yet hard hitting way...be it Silk's speech at the award ceremony or her conversation with Abraham at the canteen. The first half was right on the money as it showcases the rise of Silk & subsequently the latter half on her fall. Though the second half does slacken off in the romantic sequences, it doesnt necessarily bore the audience as it has some hard hitting scenes. Vishal Shekhar does provide a decent soundtrack with "Oo la la" rendered by Bappi Lahiri & Shreya Ghoshal being a winner with the awesome choreography reminiscent of the 80s being the icing on the cake.

I have virtually no words to describe the brilliant performance by Vidya. Though she does lack the sultry look & sex appeal of Silk, Vidya hasnt left any stone unturned to get into the skin of the character both emotionally & physically. Naseeruddin Shah is an actor par excellence & here too, he reiterates the fact as to why he is considered as one of the best in the country. Tusshar does seem to be a miscast while Emraan Hashmi does manage to give a decent act in the limited screen space provided.

Verdict:  The movie will have a blistering opening owing to its titillating promos & impressive star cast. There is no doubt that the impressive screenplay, smashing dialogues & Vidya's scintillating act will go a long way in making it a hit. In short, watch it without fail!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben