O la la la! How incredibly delicious is Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture. Her gorgeous, lush curves, her generously rounded belly, her unabashed sensuality...Even as a straight woman, I have to remind myself not to physically drool when I see the promos of Ekta Kapoor's latest film. But then Balan has always been one of our most interesting actors.
She started her career in music videos and graduated to the big league with her first film itself. Parineeta won her the Filmfare best debut award and since then her career trajectory has skyrocketed. But while her skill set was great, we were determined to find a fatal flaw. So, we hit on the fact that Balan wasn't skinny and she didn't give a damn about her appearance.
This tiny, curvy pocket Venus refused to kowtow to industry standards and didn't agree to be cut from the same size zero mould as our other lovely heroines. What was even more abhorrent is that she refused to go on a diet or share the secrets of her newly-discovered weight loss routine because - and wait for this - she had none!
So, changing tactics, the focus shifted to her dress sense. It really didn't help that she just didn't care and Heyy Baby was evidence of that nonchalance. Imagine the field day the press had when she agreed to star in a biopic based on South Indian vamp Silk Smitha.
Given that the former actor was reputed for her bordering-on-tacky, soft porn wardrobe, Vidya Balan was actually advised not to do the film. She had recently cleaned up her act and was making appearances in elegant Sabyasachi Mukherjee sarees. Plus, horror of horrors - she actually had to gain many many pounds for the film. And we all know how our stars react to method acting. Critics had predicted the demise of her career until promos appeared on television screens.
Suddenly the date of December 2 is penned in everyone's calendar. And the entire nation wants to take Balan home. Men because it's obvious - and women because they want to be just like her.
Compare this to 2008, when Kareena Kapoor dropped a few dress sizes for her film Tashan.
Newspapers, blogs, TV channels spoke of nothing else but size zero. Even today every time Bebo's name is mentioned this numeric pops up. We were subjected to the most inane questions that demanded the most ridiculous replies. I must admit she handled it well and when her films flopped she quietly put on weight and questioned the rationale behind size zero becoming a national obsession.
0 comments:
Post a Comment