Vidya Balan will represent Indian sensuality at its best in 'A Dirty Picture' where she will revive the sex-appeal of Silk Smitha.
Vidya Balan's performance prowess needs no corroboration. But when you learn that she will be playing a character loosely based on the South sex-symbol Silk Smitha (who featured in string of soft-porn films in the 80s and early 90s), it certainly generates a lot of curiosity. While a formulaic filmmaker would have thought of casting someone like today's sex-symbol Mallika Sherawat to portray the character of a yesteryear sex-symbol, director Milan Luthria chooses Vidya Balan for the role in his film A Dirty Picture . "I wanted the casting to arouse interest. At the same time I wanted a process of discovery to happen with the film and lend a new dimension to Vidya Balan", says Milan.
While Vidya Balan has largely restricted herself to the girl-next-door image, she displayed a hint of her sensual side in Ishqiya . Will she take it a step further in A Dirty Picture ? "Everything from sex, sleaze and exposure will essentially be a part of the character", assures Milan clarifying in the same breath, "But I am not an exploitative filmmaker. I want to capture the dramatic and moving side of the story. For that I wanted an ambassador who would not only add sex-appeal to the character but also bring a certain element of emotion and class".
So can we expect to see Vidya Balan at her sexiest best in A Dirty Picture ? "Definitely! Vidya will have a complete image makeover with this film. She will represent Indian sensuality at its best" claims Milan. And how does he plan to achieve that? Milan puts forth his point giving references, "Every actress from Waheeda Rehman, Hema Malini, Sridevi to Madhuri Dixit have, at some point of time in their career, exhibited a very sensual side of theirs. We will try to capture that sensual side of Vidya with this film". Concurrently he emphasizes that painting a dirty picture is no easy job and it's very important to get the right shade. "There will be a certain level of rawness to the sensuality but at the same time it has to be captured very tastefully. We need to strike a balance and ensure that it does not look cheap".
Reportedly Vidya had reservations about the role and also laid her conditions before signing on the dotted line. Milan doesn't deny. "Vidya had reservations regarding a lot of things and not just skin-show. When an actor plays an actor onscreen there is a tendency to get too absorbed in the character. Also Vidya wanted to understand the entire emotional graph of the character. The so-called reservations were more of questions that she had about her character and its portrayal which were answered. Having said that let me tell you that there will be no compromise on the portrayal of the character in any way."
So can we expect Vidya Balan to revive the sex-appeal of Silk Smitha? "Why just Silk Smitha", questions Milan. "My film is based on an entire generation of actresses who were bold enough and carved their own way in life. We have taken references of many such soft-porn stars of the era and added fiction to the narrative. So the story is a mix of several things relating to the character and time and is not just based on one person's life."
That lifts our expectations more. Seems like Vidya Balan is all set to revive an era and redefine the term sex-symbol with her oomph and sex-appeal!
