The Dirty Picture

The star-struck girl runs away from home to become a movie star. She lands up being an "extra" instead. She managed to get small roles in big films and the odd big role in small films. Her big break was when she starred in a sexy song. She became a brand by herself. That was the story of Silk Smitha. In a career spanning 17 years, she did over 450 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. On September 23, 1996 she committed suicide at age 36.  This is supposedly the story that inspired the movie The Dirty Picture. Vidya Balan plays Silk Smitha.Here is another story: She started as an extra in films in the early 1960s. She accepted small roles in big films like Mujhe Jeene Do and big roles in small budgeted stunt films like Boxer. She first gained attention in a supporting role as a vamp in Mere Sanam. The memorable sexy song "Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulphon Ka Andhera" was picturized on her.  Finally, she gained major attention when she played one of Dilip Kumar's leading ladies in Ram Aur Shyam. The film became one of the top hits of the year, and she received her first Filmfare nomination as Best Supporting Actress. We are talking about the film star of yesteryears - Mumtaz.Wherever there is glamour, there are allegations of the infamous "casting couch" being omnipresent. Bitter newcomers who are unsuccessful complain about it. Successful stars deny it. Occasionally someone files a harassment case against a director. They are like ripples in a pond. After a while the pond behaves as if the ripples never happened.The "extras" (now called Junior Artists) all have a sad story of unfulfilled ambition. All of them wanted to become movie stars and make millions. They land up making approximately between Rs 400 and Rs 900 a day (ie less than $10 a day). There are stories about them being routinely exploited by stars as well as the directors. Then there are those like the current Rakhi Sawant who uses a combination of crude sleaze and scandalizing sound bytes to desperately stay in the news while hoping someone will give her the break she has dreamed of.Silk Smitha was part of the '80s films - a decade that is best forgotten for having just a handful of well made movies and very few new stars. I suspect the directors told her to figure out a way to introduce in your face, not-so-subtle sexually suggestive gestures to lure the audience. Having been brought up on a steady diet of Bollywood films, we know that all such "bad girls"/ item numbers are actually good girls at heart. Broken homes, alcoholics, exploiters are have made the good girl bad to be able to survive. If she finds true love she will be rehabilitated as a housewife (never a career woman, mind it!) and live happily ever after. For those who are now dying to know what Silk Smitha looked like ... here is a song from the film Sadma ('83).Vidya Balan made her debut in Bollywood in 2005 with the film Parineeta. She first gets out of the good-two-shoes image with Ishqiya. And has left that girl-next-door image far behind to rebrand herself as a really versatile actor. The Dirty Picture is very clearly a film that belongs to Vidya Balan. She pouts, flirts, and looks for love with co-stars, friends and even fans. She is exploited by everyone along the way. Eventually she realizes that it is crude oomph and pelvic thrusts that get her the same attention that even stars crave for. Vidya does the role with aplomb. Expect her to win awards for this film. Then Vidya B is no stranger to awards. So please start making place for the awards Vidya Balan.Naseeruddin Shah does an awesome job as he plays an aging superstar who is full of himself.  When a fawning assistant calls him a genius, Shah pushes back an unruly lock of hair and sighs, "It is a curse (to be a genius)".The rest of the film has Tusshar (why can't he spell his name as Tushar and remove the extra ass, I mean 'S' from the spelling?" and Emran Hashmi (exactly why and for what is a tough question to answer). So don't expect to see any mind numbing acting skills on display from these two. But there are some spiffy exchanges that makes the audience guffaw, wink and nudge each other. They remind me of Dada Kondke - the uncrowned king of double entendre.In the second half the director tries to explore the psyche of Silk Smitha - which is what would have made the script insightful. That was the disappointment. The costumes designed by Niharika Khan recreate the garish over-the-top look of the '80s. Silk S was not one for subtle stuff. It was underlined and in bold font always with loud colors. That is the opportunity missed. The one supporting actor who you should watch out for is Keeda (literally means - the worm). He is the one who renames Reshma as Silk; Reshma names him Keeda as it is the (silk) worm that makes silk. Vishal Shekhar's music gets an overall rating of B, but for the Oo La La song which is the signature tune of the film.Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5  (but Vidya Balan has put in an awesome performance - you got to see that).-------------------------Read about the life of a Junior Artist (click here)