'The Dirty Picture'; Bawdy Balan's Brilliant!

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"There are three ingredients that make a film a success – entertainment, entertainment, entertainment," spouts Silk Smitha, the luscious lead character in Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture. Though the words come from Silk, it's clear that it's an adage that Milan himself has taken to heart, something that is evident from his latest release, a semi-fictionalised biopic of '80s southern sex siren, Silk Smitha.
 
Milan's previous release, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, was also a film rooted in some reality, set in Mumbai's old ganglands and the struggle for power. Luthria had wowed audiences then with his ability to craft a gripping fictional narrative by bringing in everything masala in Bollywood, and yet not losing control of his story's non-fictional core. With The Dirty Picture, Luthria taps back into the same skill, relating a real story with all the raunchy trappings of a B'town potboiler.
 
Of course, a big reason for why the film works, is the fact that the story Luthria bases his film on, is that of Silk Smitha. They say truth is stranger than fiction, and it's, perhaps, a given, that the late siren's real story may have been infinitely more twisted and intriguing. However, the bits that Milan picks up on make for a consuming affair too.
 
The film relates the story of Reshma, a girl from a small Madras outpost, who runs away from home to find a life on the big screen. Though there's quite a bit of struggle to get there, Reshma's feistiness gets her there, turning her into Silk along the way, being given the name by her first producer. On her rise to stardom, she becomes the industry's first truly liberated sex symbol, sets the gossip pages on fire and even has affairs with the biggest names in the industry, only to realise it's not to be. Though it's a tragic story of a star's rise and fall, it is undeniably a raunchy, sexy, sensuous and sometimes, even a vulgar watch, that one simply cannot take their eyes off of.
 
But while it's one thing to tell a good story, to tell it well, you need the right players. And it's safe to say, it doesn't get more right for The Dirty Picture, than one Ms.Vidya Balan. Whether it's in gaining rolls of extra weight for her role, turning the heat on onscreen, or whether it's in mouthing double-entendres in Rajat Arora's dialogues, it's clear that Balan is living her role as Silk with aplomb. The turn is all the more stunning, given that before this, the talented actress has been known for muted, straightforward roles that keep her charming and conservative. To see her ooze such unbridled sexuality makes her all the more of a knockout. Indeed, it may have been said before, but for the first time, it's true – a voluptuous Vidya Balan sets the screen afire in each one of her scenes.
 

The Dirty Picture OST; The Attack Of The '80s

With a positively voluptuous-looking Vidya Balan taking centre stage, director Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture has been in the news for more than a couple of years now. The main attraction, more than Vidya herself, is the character that she plays in the film, an '80s sexy starlet, purportedly based on none other than the legendary Silk Smitha. The buzz around the film has only increased ever since the promos of the film started doing the rounds of theatres and online, on videosharing sites, with Vidya's look attracting as much attention as the ear-popping song used in it.
 
With a film set in the '80s, when Bollywood was at its experimental best, the soundtrack of the film is bound to cause a buzz. With Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani on composing duties, one expects no less than to be vowed. So, does The Dirty Picture OST live up to the expectations?
 
The soundtrack opens up with its flagship number, ooh la la. The track has already attracted quite the buzz, from its use in the film's raunchy promos, and lives up to its star billing. A perfect '80s renaissance of a track, ooh la la features Bappi Lahiri in a commanding position on the male vocals, while Shreya Ghoshal emulates the classic bimbette voice to a T. Rajat Arora's lyrics are sort of self-aware, in the way of the almost lascivious images that they conjure up, but they do stay in line with the feel of the song. The track's pumping arrangement borders on something out of Bollywood's jhankaar beats years, but that completes the picture perfectly too. There is also a beat-heavy, bhangra-influenced mix of the track later down the playlist; but while it sounds interesting, the arrangement simply comes off as a bit too anachronistic.
 
The album takes a romantic turn with the next couple of numbers, both titled ishq sufiyana, featured in separate male and female versions. The male version comes first, with Kamal Khan on vocals. As the name suggests, the track is a sufiyana number, and as far as sufi pop tracks go in Bollywood, this is quite a straightforward one. The track is mildly reminiscent of tum jo aaye zindagi mein, from Milan Luthria's earlier Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai', but it's a passing similarity. There's nothing too notable about the track's arrangement or sound, but it casts a lovely pale on the overall album anyway. The female version of the track brings Sunidhi Chauhan on vocals, and the lady is in her element. Though there isn't much of a difference between the male and female versions of ishq sufiyana, Sunidhi's verve takes this one up a notch.
 
Sunidhi comes back on the next number, honeymoon ki raat, which sounds like a classic Bappi Lahiri number from the get go. The loud beats, heavy use of the synthesisers and a kitschy, dance-floor worthy tune that sounds like something straight out of the Disco Dancer soundtrack, make this one a winner amongst the lot. While the disco feel of the track is quite interesting, the quirky lyrics from Rajat Arora deserve attention as well. The only grouse one could hold against this one, possibly, is that Vishal-Shekhar haven't included an even more up-tempo version of the track on the album.
 
Shreya Ghoshal attempts a sensuous spoken-word intro on twinkle twinkle, the last track on the album. She succeeds, but the cheesiness of the opening lines in the actual track takes quite some sheen off the number. This one is torn between being a bhangra number and a standard '80s tune in keeping with the theme of the album. While the vocals from Shreya sound quite bhangra-like, the rest of the track is perfectly period, the sound and the arrangement straight out of a Jeetendra-Sridevi type film, while the male lead on the track, Rana Majumdar, emulates R. D. Burman's roaring baritone. Unfortunately, the wild mix of all these elements proves too much for the track to handle, which ends up flat on its face, a mash of it all.
 
While there are a couple of interesting tracks on The Dirty Picture soundtrack, like ooh la la and honeymoon ki raat, Vishal-Shekhar fail to capitalise on the period charm of their subject. Indeed, apart from the afore-mentioned numbers, there's nothing breakout here. With the sort of kitschy appeal that the film seems to encapsulate, the composers had an opportunity to craft something of a concept album with the release. Though they haven't completely wasted the chance, they haven't really capitalised on it either. Get this one for ooh la la and honeymoon ki raat, but don't expect much more than that…