Bollywood has never been heavily into biographical movies and neither it has been daring enough to try films made on some shocking subjects before. But we have really grown in the recent years and for that I would like to congratulate the money-people (financers), who have the guts to encourage these kinds of projects such as Shobha / Ekta Kapoor and their innovative production house. Along with director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora, they first came up with ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAI and now it’s THE DIRTY PICTURE which is sure going to change the way people are both making and watching films in our part of the world.
To start with, there are very few films made (especially in Hindi Film Industry) with sheer honesty and sincerity, showcasing “Life as it is” on the celluloid. And THE DIRTY PICTURE can easily be included in the top bracket of such films which dare to hold back nothing, showing you the dark side of the game as it is without any hiding. Reportedly inspired by the life of South six-siren of 80s, Silk Smitha, it literally transmits you to the era of sex-oriented films made in the 80s with all those catchy songs heavily relying on their meaningless words and sensual dances with vulgar steps. The noteworthy art direction and cinematography in the film simply drags you back into that era, reminding the days when there used to be a special morning show of such ADULTS films in the theaters attracting even the teenagers bunking from their classes.
The film starts off with a bang, forcing you to look around in embarrassment. Yes, that’s the word, as many viewers might not take it sportingly, the way Vidya hits them real hard below the belt, just within the first 5 minutes of the film. And then SHE along with her director takes you on to a sexual, shocking, hell of a roller coaster ride till its declared Intermission on the screen. In fact the entire first half can be explained through one dialogue of the movie itself which says, “Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain: Entertainment, Entertainment aur Entertainment.” And before intermission its pure first rate entertainment for everyone from the masses to the classes or from the first 4 rows to the last 40 rows. So apart from those who might find it objectionable, rest all are sure going to have a great time in theater with Vidya in this first half.
Post intermission, the director takes you into the more darker realms of the entertainment business where the celebs are moving towards their downfall. The concept is pretty natural and there is no exception to this rule which can easily be explained with the example of a mountain. If you start to climb a hill from its one end then after reaching the height you can do nothing but have to start your journey downwards from the other end against your own will. The top is there only for some time and then it has to be the other end with the downslide waiting for you to move on, against your own wishes. And the right art of living is to understand the fact, accept it and then take some tiny steps on the downslide….…, gracefully.
But the art is quite difficult to learn and its even more difficult when you are talking about celebrities enjoying their famous grand status in the entertainment business. Its just like the feeling of Death, when you see the same crowd shouting and cheering around you, BUT moving towards another person standing on the other side of the stage, smiling at your face. One needs a huge amount of courage to face it, which SILK is not able to find in the film and chooses the easier way instead, of killing herself to get out of it.
The second half of TDP deals with this pain of her life, where she gets rejection from all corners, even from the ones she loved dearly. Therefore for many viewers, this part of the film may not be entertaining enough as compared to the first. But it doesn’t completely go off-tune due to its brilliant script executed intelligently by Milan. Despite dealing with the sad inner conflict of the Diva, the writers and the director still give you many spellbinding sequences in this part of the movie which keeps shocking the viewers at regular intervals till its tragic climax. Yet, I somehow felt the ending as a little hushed up with the suicide scene coming up a bit fast without any strong explanation and a song in its second hour which could have been avoided.
Set in the South Film Industry and its surroundings, TDP is like a NAKED TRUTH brought on to the screen with utmost sincerity and honesty. Many believe that the 80s was the most controversial and sad phase of our Hindi Film Industry in which many sub-standard films were made featuring many known artists who used to do 2-3 shifts in a day working for more than 6-7 projects at a time. In those days a sexy double meaning song with many shameless dance movements was an essential feature of all films, especially the ones made by the South producers, such as MAQSAD (1984) (as I remember) which had a very disgusting double meaning dialogue sequence between Rajesh Khanna and Sridevi. And believe me, that scene still remains equally disgusting even today after almost 3 decades.
With THE DIRTY PICTURE, director Milan Luthria and Viday Balan take you back in those shady days, revealing many inner truths of the film world which sadly did exist in our industry ‘as it is’ in those years. Unlike today’s world where even a child can see any Porn Stuff on his computer available free over the internet, in those days people used to get over excited seeing any such song or movie in the theaters. If truth be told then even the posters of these movies were seen with such lusty eyes which remain simply unexplainable in words. And I also remember hearing instances where the posters were reported stolen or torn from the Show-Windows of many theaters of such sexy movies. In TDP, that era is indeed portrayed in a highly authentic manner with every single person of the Industry trying to use SILK in his own way.
Truly speaking, TDP loudly admits that actually it’s the female power, around which the whole world rotates. In fact a woman is like the Axis on which the world of men keeps revolving day and night filled with a shameful lust of body and hunger of Sex. Therefore if a women wishes to make something happen, then she can easily do so by fulfilling the ugly hunger of men in just few minutes. And that’s exactly what SILK does in the movie to get the status she wants in just few minutes of her first dance performance as an Extra with a hunter. But the other bitter truth of our society remains that once the Man realizes that he has been used as a means, he bounces back with his strong man-power and crushes the women to pieces like an object, just like the way SILK is left alone to commit suicide wearing a red bridal attire in the end.
Coming to the four aces, which make TDP a must watch for all, the first one undoubtedly has to be the bold and extra-ordinary performance by Vidya Balan. The girl not only shocks you with her unexpected moves but also blows you over with her remarkable, flawless performance as SILK. This unarguably can be termed as the most dangerous move of her career where she otherwise was known as the girl best suited for Indian traditional roles. Vidya no doubt outshines herself in the movie with guts, but TDP is going to stick with her persona till eternity as it will not be easy for both the makers and the viewers to forget her as SILK for many years to come. To justify what great magic she has done on the screen, I can only quote a dialogue again from the film itself which says, “Yahan Stars To Bahot Hain Iss Industry Mein, Par Actor Bas Tu Hi Hai”. Hats off to you Vidya, for showing your mettle in this “Image Driven Industry”
The second ace of TDP is its full of life SCRIPT by Rajat Arora, which entertains the viewers in its first half and enlightens them in its second. Though many would not like to appreciate its second half with the same spirit (as said before). But for them I would like to say that its just like what happens to SILK in the movie. When she is hot and sizzling, burning the screen…….you like her (Pre-Intermission) but when she is torn, with dark circles, a fat belly and not able to entertain (Post-Intermission)…….you get bored.
An intelligent, entertaining yet thoughtful direction by Milan Luthria is the third ace of the movie which needs to be applauded a lot for even thinking of choosing this unusual subject for his film. I have always more or less liked his work ever since KACHHE DHAAGE (1999). But with THE DIRTY PICTURE, Milan excels himself and the film brings him forward in the list of more respected and renowned directors of the industry, unarguably.
The fourth but a very important ace of the film is its splendidly written Dialogues which keep you glued to the screen in such a way that you don’t want to miss even a single line said by any character on the screen. In fact the dialogues of TDP just play as another lead HERO of the film adding to its entertainment value in a big way.
But here apart from these four aces, I would like to mention a Joker-Card of the movie played by its Costume Designer (Niharika Bhasin Khan), Dance Director (Pony Prakash Raj) and Music Directors (Vishal-Shekhar). They all as a team have worked real hard on their project which is clearly visible on the screen due to its perfection achieved. Especially I would like to praise Vishal-Shekhar for their great understanding shown in the arrangement of the score using the same style and instruments used in that decade, particularly in the track “Ooh La La” which is full of energy and has already become a Big Hit.
In the supporting acts, Nasseruddin Shah plays the ageing South super-star elegantly along with a pinch of over-acting as required by his role and he is simply perfect in that. Emraan Hashmi deserves praises to accept this role where though he is narrating the whole film but still has got very less screen presence if compared to his present solo hero status. However its Emraan only who gets the most positive points in the end being a silent admirer of SILK. Tusshar once again impressively plays the sweet guy who also becomes cunning with the change in circumstances. Anju Mahendroo is great as the influential lady journalist (indicating towards STARDUST magazine) and Rajesh Sharma is outstanding as SILK’s first producer.
In all THE DIRTY PICTURE has got everything to entertain all kinds of viewers in different regions. It has sex, it has shocks, it has a script and has entertainment in full dosage to give you worth of all your money spent on it. It made me recall a great World Cinema Masterpiece called SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) and that itself is a compliment for the makers.
But ending on a serious note, TDP and the enigmatic SILK in it, reminded me the way we all use A Currency Note in our daily lives. When it’s a note coming from a fresh bundle which we even call “Kadhak Note”, then it is liked and loved by all. We even prefer keeping it with us for much longer and love the sound of its brand new paper a lot. When the same note becomes old, weaker in strength and a little dirtier, we don’t even care to look at it and just use it as a currency. And when that very note gets more filthy, with cracks on its body just waiting for getting torn, we even refuse accepting it in any transaction and just humbly ask to ‘please change the note’.
Now that’s exactly what we do to the young girls becoming ladies in the entertainment profession quite shamelessly. And that’s what was done to SILK by the Industry and its powerful men in the film.
So, if you can take that then I would like to call THE DIRTY PICTURE as a tight slap on this man-owned world in which we just falsely keep shouting for an equal status for women, whereas from the inside we still take her just as a commodity to enjoy at our will.
But here I somewhere also feel that through THE DIRTY PICTURE......its producers, director and Vidya herself in one way has used the same SEX again to get their own share of success at the Box-Office, just like SILK did in her own days. So they too remain the culprit here in the ugly game.
Ending with the last sad words of SILK -
'Zindagi Jab Mayoos Hoti Hai, Tabhi Mehsoos Hoti Hai'.
Watch it as a must at the earliest.
Rating : 4 / 5
