Review: ‘The Dirty Picture’ is a tale of love, lust and loneliness

Zeenews Bureau Milan Luthria’s ‘The Dirty Picture’ is a glittering piece of cinema which recounts the life of Silk Smitha, the reigning sex siren of the 80s South Indian film industry. Starring Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor, ‘The Dirty Picture’ is the story of Reshma (Vidya), a starry-eyed, small-town girl who wants to make it big in Southern films but comes across frequent rejections until she lands up the role of an item girl, which transforms her from Reshma into Silk - a sex symbol with overnight stardom. Alas, despite all the fame and adulation, Silk lives a turbulent life of fickle relationships and fleeting fame. The film dwells deep into the psyche of the matinee idol whose single look would make men skip a heartbeat. Back in the 80s, Silk was a stark contrast to the prudish times where her sexual overtures were hard to beat. No doubt she was the symbol of titillation and gratification, of what all men desired but did not accept it openly. While filmmakers like Abraham (Emraan) loath at the very sight of Silk, actors like Suryakant (Naseeruddin Shah) pine for her oozing sensuality. Yet, despite her raging success, the personal life of Silk is ridden with contradictions. If Suryakant fails to acknowledge his relationship with Silk, Ramakant (Tusshar) too disappoints her; as a result, Silk starts losing interest in love and her career is jeopardised. Ironically, when Silk is at the lowest ebb of her life, the only person who sticks around her is the man who hated her the most – Abraham. In ‘The Dirty Picture’, Vidya Balan is down and dirty and delivers a power packed performance. Naseeruddin Shah plays a southern superstar with flawless ease and displays a solid persona. Emraan Hashmi looks good. Kudos to Rajat Arora for his brisk screenplay that never loses its sight from the storyline and characterization. A Brilliant direction by Milan, ‘The Dirty Picture’ is awesome first half, though a bit dragged in second half but Vidya Balan’s powerful performance truly compensates. The film has nice mix of South Indian music with Bollywood sounds. ‘Ooh la la la ’ and ‘Ishq Sufiyana’ is already topping the charts. Watch ‘The Dirty Picture’ for dirtiness. Ratings: Four cheers for this one!