“Zindagi sirf ek baar milti hai, to do baar kyoon sochna?” (You live only once, so why think twice about anything?) With this thought in mind, little Reshma, a little glamour-struck village girl from the Tamil Nadu of the ‘80s, runs away from home to Madras (as Chennai was called till some years back). When she grows up (Vidya Balan), she decides that she will have no qualms about using her voluptuous body to get to where she wants to reach. But she is only insulted and ridiculed like any newcomer.
As a struggling junior artiste, she gets a small break in a sizzling dance number and makes the most uninhibited use of the opportunity, but the film’s “intellectually idealistic” and rigid director, Ebrahim (Emraan Hashmi), who is absent when her no-holds-barred number is shot, edits it out. When the film bombs, the desperate producer Selvaganesh (Rajesh Sharma) reinserts the suggestive song in theatres in the smaller centers and the cash registers begin to jingle. 
Milan Luthria’s dramatized and considerably fictionalized biopic of a South Indian siren from the ‘80s is, incredibly, everything every section of the audience can want from a feature film. With the Entertainment Quotient in sacks, the Emotional Quotient ample and the Intelligence Quotient in right measure, it wins over everyone from the frontbencher seeking titillation to the discerning viewer hunting for a meaningful film that is not boring.
Luthria, whose past plus-es include “Kachche Dhaage,” “Taxi No. 9-2-1-1” and “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai,” delivers his biggest hit that elevates him to the level of one of the best and most versatile directors around today. Incredibly, he turns a potentially niche film into a mainstream blockbuster material and also manages the tightrope of being on the right side of boldness when he retains the A-grade sensuality and eroticism without degenerating into C-grade sleaze. Luthria is completely in command, his groundwork and research impeccable about the South Indian film industry of the ‘80s, his atmosphere accurate and the intensity never diluted.
The very bold dialogues, often relevantly crude and crass, make screenwriter Rajat Aroraa (“Bluffmaster!” et al) the true hero of the film. And this is because the lines, while also playing to the gallery, are so razor-sharp, insightful and often loaded with poignancy. The unforgettable one-liners and ripostes keep coming with praiseworthy consistency, even if Aroraa’s screenplay dulls considerably in pace and acquires a melodramatic tenor in the last hour.
Technical values are good but deservedly take a backseat, and the background score (Sandeep Shirodkar) bridges the ‘80s-2011 gap admirably. Vishal-Shekhar’s best song “Ishq Sufiyana,” however, acts like a speed-breaker and its “today” feel dilutes the ‘80s ethos.
The film’s second and commercially-biggest ace is Vidya Balan, whose magnificent performance is best watched rather than described. In Hindi cinema, at least, she has dared go where no actress went before. The word uninhibited acquires a new dimension in her splendid essay of a sex bomb with a child-like heart.
From the heroes, the uber-cool Emraan Hashmi shines the most, and Naseeruddin Shah is impressively effortless. Tusshar does not have much scope and it is indeed sporting of him to take up such a minor role in a home production. The supporting artistes impress, especially Anju Mahendroo as the scribe who reluctantly admires Silk’s guts and tenacity, and Rajesh Sharma as Silk’s mentor, who is a decent human being and does not look at her as a sex object.
Ekta Kapoor, who has been increasingly toying with the offbeat (“Love Sex And Dhokha,” “Raagini MMS” and the flop “Shor in the City”) delivers her most praiseworthy effort and deserves a lot of pats for bravely making and brilliantly marketing this overtly bold slice-of-life film that has as much universal appeal than any regular mainstream masala fare. Correction: this is mainstream masala fare too! For the right reasons or wrong, everyone will want to watch the film — and love it. And that’s what mainstream Hindi cinema always has been about.
Since this is a review, one can take the liberty of mentioning two or three problem areas about this film: One, why is Silk’s mentor, Ratnamma, conveniently removed from the scene and Silk’s life in the turbulent phase? Two, how did the censors give such a fare a U/A tag when a “Desi Boyz” was censored with the Adults Only rating? And lastly, one fears that this film and the huge response to it will trigger off a spate of awful and sleazy clones.
Still, we are nitpicking. For “The Dirty Picture” is set to make a clean sweep of the box office and make the recently tarnished box office picture shinier!