Movie Preview: The Dirty Picture

ALLinDOON

Shashank Pandey

Thu Dec 01, 2011, 11:30 IST

My mother turns to me in disbelief and asks, “What's the matter with him?”. I know straight away that her concern is for veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah who is romancing Vidya Balan in the promos of “The Dirty Picture”. His strong expressions project such degrees of lecher and sleaze that may make one cringe. She still doesn’t get it, but the answer is straight forward: the matter with Naseeruddin Shah is that he is a really good actor and when he is playing a lecherous old man, with a soul blacker than death, he will be convincingly abominable. Back in 1998 he sported a truly malicious character in Kaizad Gustad’s “Bombay Boys” and proved that playing a totally dark character, with no shades of grey, is one of his many strengths. The film may be good or bad but, Naseeruddin Shah is almost always exceptional.

It wouldn’t entirely be fantasy to expect more picture than dirty in Milan Luthria’s re-imagination of a tragedy that was eclipsed by fame and glamour. The promotions of the film, however, seem to concentrate entirely on the dirty aspect of the plot. This just goes to show that the producers are aware that viewers are inclined to throw money, exclusively, at mindless trash and therefore a film like this one will not sell too many tickets. Unfortunately, they aren’t aware that casting Tushar Kapoor will hurt the film (and the world) in brand new ways that are discovered only after the release of every film he has been in.

Emraan Hashmi’s image has almost entirely eclipsed his talent but, once put under a microscope, he clearly has more talent than most of his contemporaries who have absolutely no reasons to be on a film set, let alone acting. Vidya Balan is not the best looking or the most talented female actors in the country. However, the fact that she is not another Kareena Kapoor wannabe sets her miles apart from ninety percent of the young female talent (or lack thereof) in the business and also causes her acceptance of challenging and potentially controversial roles such as this one.

Beauty and desire have made men gauche since the beginning of time. Once the whims of men takes control, they end up destroying the things they desire or themselves. Doom is the only inevitability. Regrettably, the story of Silk Smitha ends with her ruin. The makers of “The Dirty Picture” have an extraordinary opportunity to explore and uncover a tragedy that has lingered longer than the ambitions and vanity of a poor girl.

While director Milan Luthria has not yet created a masterpiece, he has earned himself the reputation of exploring nonconforming themes. Films like ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’, with all their imperfections, are a breath of fresh air amidst the substandard, redundantly loud and gratuitous works of creatively challenged hacks that are passed off as cinema. An underdog cast supported by heavyweight Naseeruddin Shah, may just be what Luthria needs in order to do justice to the tale of Silk Smitha.

Tushar Kapoor is included in the cast, which means that the film will have flaws, however, one should walk into the theatres expecting good cinema.