THE DIRTY PICTURE

The Dirty Picture  is a 2011 Bollywood periodic semi-biographical drama film inspired by the life of Silk Smitha, an actress noted for her erotic roles. The filmmakers, however, clarified that the story is not officially and literally based on Smitha  alone, but also on many of her other Southern contemporaries like Nylon Nalini and Disco Shanti, and even resembles the distressing personal lives of other women in popular culture, including Hollywood actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. The film was directed by Milan Luthria and co-produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor, after Ekta came up with the idea and asked screenwriter Rajat Aroraa to pen a story based on it.

Made on a budget of 18 crore  (US$3.96 million), The Dirty Picture released worldwide on December 2, 2011 (the birth anniversary of Smitha)  in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions. Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi played lead roles in the film. Upon release, the film received both critical and commercial success, with Balan receiving maximum accolades for her performance and being called "the hero of the film". In addition, the film has also received widespread note for portraying women as powerful and as contributing something unique to a typically male-dominated society.

The film's music composed by Vishal Shekhar with lyrics by Rajat Aroraa were popular. The film grossed 117 crore (US$25.74 million) worldwide and fetched several awards at popular award ceremonies including a Filmfare  Award for Best Actress for Balan and six Colors Screen Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

Filming was to begin on 21 May 2011; a week after the release of Kapoor's Ragini MMS. But due to certain production delays, it began a week later. Balan, being a spiritual person, organised a puja on the sets before principal photography could begin.

The first leg of filming took place at Mumbai's Film City where an elaborate set re-creating Chennai (then Madras) of the 80's, was set up. The second schedule was shot in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The song 'Ishq Sufiyana' was shot at Bidar fort in Bidar, Karnataka. Filming was completed in September, before venturing into post-production, ahead of the December release. Director Luthria wanted to depict a sense of discomfort between the film's two lead characters, Balan and Hashmi, a "meeting of two completely different worlds". So he didn't allow them to interact and get comfortable with each other during film workshops ahead of the shoot. Since he considered them "the unlikeliest pair to come together", he brought them together right into the shoot filming an important scene, where they had to insult each other. Though he was initially anxious, it all turned out well and he was surprised by the resulting chemistry.

                                                                                                 RAJAT PASI  - 53