review of 'dirty picture'

This one’s a mixed bag!

First, ‘Dirty Picture’ is yakeen se, a ‘Nallu Picture’/’Achha Picture’/’Good Picture’!
Socha na tha, that from the ashes of regressive soaps of the saas-bahu kind, Ekta Kapoor would emerge as a ‘hatt-ke’ producer – a pretty impressive line-up of films like ‘Once upon a time in Mumbai’, ‘Love Sex or Dhoka’ & now a movie based on the life of the first lady of suggestive item numbers & more, the inimitable ‘Sillukku’ Smitha!
So taaliyaan for Jumping Jack Jeetu ki beti!
For fellow Palghat Iyer, nammu Vidya Balan, a standing ovation! From Parineeta, you’ve come a long way babe! What a gutsy, uninhibited bold act, proving that she is one of the most versatile actors Bollywood can boast of currently!

Then there’s my all time favorite, Nasserudin Shah – he is a riot, playing those typical fossil like heroes of the 80’s, arrogant, absurd & delusional! Some hilarious scenes like the one where he looks 90+ and skips home with his diploma and has an actress half his age, playing his mother! Plenty of jabs at the foolish & illogical idolizing of over the hill actors!
BUT!!!!! I belong to the generation (phuleez let us not detour into ‘she must be quite old’ lane & stick to the review!) that saw the rise & fall of the one & only ‘Sillukku’ – you first encountered her on the large screen with horror & moralistic outrage, then graduated to grotesque fascination & somewhere down the line, grew quite fond of our feisty fabric queen - Don’t get me wrong – not taking away from Vidya Balan’s performance in any way – but for a diehard South Indian, there is a gap between our crude, earthy, one of a kind “Sillukku’ & ‘Dirty Picture’s’ refined ‘Silk’.
Credit to Vidya Balan that despite all the jhatkas, matkas, thrusts & cleavage, she never looks vulgar – which unfortunately does not allow ‘Silk’ to become ‘Sillukku’! Was it my imagination, or were there a lot of Jeetu-Sreedevi-Tohfa-Mawaali like costumes & picturisation, poses et all! Maybe Ekta wanted to squeeze in a small tribute to daddy dearest?!
Let’s talk about our Rascallas, the Tamizh film heroes – again, much as Nasser has attempted, has not been able to crack the complete package that is a middle aged leading men of the 1980’s! So funny moments definitely, but Mr. Shah’s performance, dare I say it, does verge on a spoof like quality most of the time! You still love him & never forget what a great actor he is – but no denying that there are comical tinges to his role!
Yeah, let me not forget that if it’s a Balaji production, we have to suffer Tusss (how many S’s is that?)ar Kapoor – couldn’t quite figure his look & the wig! Let me just say, a great actor he ‘aint, so thank Gawd for him that he’s got Ekta Kapoor as a sister!
Life & times of Silk Smitha – a story sincerely & well told, but the movie is not a patch on the phenomenon that was Silluku Smita - she left her mark on the fabric of Indian cinema , a trend setter ! After her came Nylex Nalini & ‘Polyester Padmini’!!! (LOL!)
But then, comparisons are odious, so season my comments with a huge dose of salt!
PS: Ooo la la la, Bhappi Da, not bad!Buy yourself one more gold chain!