- The love story between an actress and a director, inspired by the life of the late south Indian actress Silk Smitha.
- Rebellious and uninhibited Reshma lives an impoverished lifestyle with her mother, Ratnamma, in 1980s South India. She is an ardent fan of film actor, Suryakant, and her one ambition in life is to meet and act with him. She runs away to Madras, and like, hundreds of young women, lines up outside Jupiter Studios to try and get noticed. With her plain, next-door-girl looks, she gets ignored but as fate could have it she is given a chance to play a minor role after she manages to sneak into the studios. The role exploits her as a sex symbol, driving males to the cinema houses to absorb her movements and beauty. Virtually overnight she, now renamed Silk, becomes a sensation, and together with the aging superstar, Suryakant, the one she had always fantasized about, she sizzles the silver screen with her sex appeal. Suryakant's brother, Ramakant, an author, is smitten by her - so much so that he would like her to opt out of movies altogether, so that he could marry her. But the rebellious woman that she is, jeopardizes her chance of impressing his parents - by challenging the upcoming siren, Shakila, to a competition. And it is this move that will bring about even more changes in her life.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
- Reshma runs from her house to escape child marriage and reaches Madras where she is sheltered by Ratnamma,Reshma is now a grown up girl and big fan of Superstar Suryakant she also wants to enter films but is insulted by a casting director for being ugly one day luck favors and she gets to do a dance song in the film her erotic expressions impress everyone but he film director Abraham edits it from the film as he finds it very vulgar,Reshma goes to watch the film and his disappointed after finding her song has been edited the film is doing very poor business so and assistant director shows producer Selvaganeshan the erotic dance song which he immediately adds to the prints but Abraham is not happy with it the song becomes very much popular and the film business picks up making Reshma a known face,Selvaganeshan traces Reshma and asks her to work in his films and names her Silk in the very first day of shoot she annoys Suryakant and she is almost to be thrown out of the film but things work out between them and shooting starts Silk soon becomes a star of B grade films her films run to packed houses in between she meets Ramakanth younger brother of Suryakant and they fall in love but as Silk touches stardom her attitude changes towards everyone and she becomes a heavy drinker and smoker and starts to live lonely life after her stardom downfall.—alex.mjacko@gmail.com
- Imagine a nobody who became an extra and then the most wanted heroine of the early 80s. Chronicling the meteoric rise and steep fall of the erstwhile screen sensation, The Dirty Picture is set against the colorful and entertaining backdrop of the fierce male-dominated South-Indian film industry of the 80s. The quintessential siren, Silk, knew her audiences, and it didn't seem like anything would stop the ambitious starlet, till it did, in the form of unrequited love. To the world, she was the queen of sensuality. But at heart, she was just another woman yearning for love in a ruthless world. Balaji and Milan Luthria team up again after their smash hit, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, to create a humorous yet poignant entertainer, which is already in the news for being the most keenly anticipated musical drama of the year.—The Dirty Picture
- A day before her marriage, Reshma (Vidya Balan) runs away from her rural village, hoping to become a star in Chennai. She fails to impress a casting director, and he insults her for being unattractive and unable to act. Determined to secure a role, she spontaneously auditions for the position of a background dancer. However, she dances in a sultry manner, using erotic movements which annoys the film's director, Abraham (Emraan Hashmi). He edits out Reshma's entire dance sequence. The film fails at the box office, much to the dismay of the producer Selva Ganesh (Rajesh Sharma), who later recalls Reshma's performance and offers her a role in a song in his upcoming film. Selva also suggests that she now be referred to as "Silk", which is more exotic and captivating.
At the first shoot, Silk dances with veteran actor Suryakanth (Naseeruddin Shah), her childhood idol. Enamoured with him, Silk gains his affection and attention by offering a long-term sexual relationship. Meanwhile, Abraham proposes a new film to Selva Ganesh and is keen to cast Suryakanth. However, Suryakanth's suggestion of adding sex and eroticism, to make the film more commercially viable, angers Abraham. Silk slowly builds a name for herself in the industry and goes on to do many more sexually charged films with Suryakanth, which catapults her into stardom. She gains many male fans and, in a short time, becomes immensely rich and popular as a Southern sex symbol.
Suryakanth's younger brother Ramakanth (Tusshar Kapoor) is an admirer of Silk and starts to befriend her. Silk develops a liking for him, after she realizes that he is the first man who loves her for more than just her body and sex appeal. At an awards ceremony Silk is praised for her performance but is insulted by Suryakanth who tells her that she is nothing more than everyone's "dirty secret". Hurt by his remarks, Silk announces that she will continue to make her "dirty pictures" and that she has no qualms in doing so. She begins to spend more time with Ramakanth and becomes the focus of tabloid gossip after noted journalist Naila (Anju Mahendru) criticizes Silk for having a romantic relationship with both brothers. To avoid scandal, and also to get revenge, Suryakanth drops Silk from his forthcoming films, forcing her to work with smaller, unknown filmmakers. She loses interest in her work and begins to feel threatened by a younger aspiring actress, Shakeela. During a dance challenge she intentionally trips Shakeela, much to the embarrassment of Ramakanth who then decides to end their relationship.
To ease her heartbreak and the rejection from her family, Silk turns to alcohol and chain smoking. She gains weight, causing her to lose her status as a sex symbol. Silk approaches Silva Ganesh with an offer to produce a film together. Ultimately, the audience and industry has lost interest in her, and the film fails. On the other hand, Abraham directs a film which turns out to be a huge hit, and he feels that he has finally proven to Silk (and himself) that his films do not need any sexualisation to be successful. Having lost her fame and fortune, Silk has accumulated so much debt that she approaches a small-time filmmaker, willing to take on any role. She is shocked to find that he wants her to do a pornographic film, and she refuses. He intoxicates her with alcohol and starts filming, without her permission. The place is raided by the police but Silk manages to escape.
Abraham finds himself falling in love with Silk, even though he denies it first, as he struggles with this moral dilemma. During a phone conversation with Silk, Abraham becomes alarmed when she asks him to bid farewell to everyone for her. He rushes to her house, and finds her lying in bed dead from a sleeping pill overdose, along with a suicide note written by her.
The film ends with Abraham's narration, examining the life that Silk has led, and he questions whether the consequences she faced from her actions were justified or not. He concludes by realizing that we will never know if her way of life was right or wrong, or if we should judge her at all.
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