…. films.. and in many cases, actors too.

If you agree to that, you are probably as old as me or older!  The older you get the better you appreciate the b/w era. :)

 

 

I watched a movie with a friend over the last weekend.  She and I have a routine. Every couple of months we meet up, talk till our jaws hurt, shop till we drop, eat at restaurants we can ill –afford and watch whatever movie is playing at the theatres. Its our way of breaking away from the monotony. Usually it works, and we return to our respective offices all talked out, broke but happy.  Everything with this arrangement is fine except for our choice of movies. The last time we saw Mausam. As you would know that movie was anything but awesome. This time we acted uncharacteristically gutsy and voluntarily chose to watch The Dirty Picture. Not a smart idea.

The only thing good about  The Dirty Picture is Vidya Balan. She undoubtedly impresses with her acting skills, but besides that, the movie doesn’t offer much. Not having seen any of Silk Smitha’s movie, it’s hard to assess exactly how close to the real character she was, but my gut feeling she has done a pretty good job of it.  At least that’s what a quick search on Silk Smitha on Wikipedia assures me. She seems to be comfortable portraying a challenging role and looks convincing throughout the film.

The first half of the film focuses on Silk’s  devil-may-care attitude and her deep desire to rise to fame and live life on her terms.  Post-interval the film depicts her discontent with relationships,  alcoholism  and her steady downfall in the industry, ending with her suicide. Oddly, the film doesn’t go beyond this- making practically no references to the exploitative nature of the films in those years  or the poverty, early marriage and ill-treatment that forced  the young girl to run away from home in the first place. To me, this was an obvious gap in the storyline.

You walk into the theatre expecting a film similar to one of Madhur Bhandarkar’s and are hugely disappointed because the movie doesn’t make it to that league at all.  Imran Hashmi and Tushar Kapoor have fairly prominent roles in the movie but they don’t do it justice to their characters. I never thought I’d say this, but I wasn’t too happy with Naseeruddin Shah either. There is no way I can find fault in his craft, but I felt something about his on-screen character didnt fit with his  real life personality.

If I were to go by the number of times the radio plays Oh la la, I’d have to call it a hit, but I think Ishq Sufiana is a far better song.  I noticed some similarities  between how this song  and  Tu Jaane Na from Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani is shot.  Did you notice them too?

Though Vidya Balan has obviously played a career defining role, I can’t help wondering why she had to pick this particular character to display her acting abilities. I can’t even fully understand why a biopic was made on Silk Smitha. What was so great about her? What did she do that was such a  critical contribution  to the film industry that we needed a 3 hour  film on her?  What was so outstanding or exceptional about the roles she played? If I were to ever make a movie on a film actor, I am sure I wouldn’t picked her.  Anyhow,  the movie has been made and released, but its  not a movie I am recommending.  Watch it for Balan, if you must.

Coming up next:  Green is in!

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