The Dirty Picture..Ladkee Tu Hai Badee Bumbaat

Earlier this month, as I landed at Hyderabad and took the shuttle to the city, I noticed Vidya Balan sensuously positioned in a lily pond, coyly looking askance, out of a huge poster at a traffic junction, huge as they can do only down south.

Leaving aside fleeting glances of its TV promos, this was my first “good” look at the film. And I understood what the pre-release buzz around Vidya’s “bold” look was about. Amidst a glut of size-zero bodies, here was a real woman, not shy of her body, and the Indian male in me instantly loved it.

Immediately then, I wondered whether the film, which is supposedly banking so much upon the “sensuality” factor would be able to justify the cinematic aspirations also, and whether it would be just skin or more than that.

Well, now that I have watched it, I find that The Dirty Picture is, well, not dirty. Although it is a story of a woman who uses her sexuality on and off screen to rise in her film career, the film successfully avoids being crass or vulgar or titillating, and therein lies one of its strengths. Largely, this owes itself to the vision of Ekta Kapor, the producer and the deft subject handling of Milan Luthria, the director.  

But the most important reason why this movie should be watched is an absolutely superlative performance from Vidya Balan, which takes the film to another level altogether, more than just being a collage of heaving cleavage and navel shots.

Milan has positioned Vidya as the protagonist (Silk Smitha, some say) in a very realistic 80s Bollywood ambience, who uses her flaming sexuality on and off-screen to rise in her career in the most unapologetic manner. Beyond her overt sexuality, however, lies initially her pure passion for cinema and performance, her desire to excel. Then, when she becomes really famous, comes the pain of her solitude and her insufferable and insatiable desire to be truly loved. Vidya has portrayed both the pain and pleasure with equal aplomb. 

Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar and Emran have pivotal roles in the star cast played out well. Rajesh Sharma has proved himself again in a very strong character role. 

The movie deserves a must watch.