Vidya Balan - the sexy siren

Vidya Balan has never been a sexy siren. Despite locking lips with her male co-stars and even mouthing dialogues seasoned with choicest of expletives, Vidya has remained the typical demure, sari-clad lady one would take home to meet their mom. Not for her the trappings of a sex bomb.

But Vidya has defied the stereotypes and shocked her fans by taking up the role of Silk Smitha in director Milan Luthria’s film Dirty Picture.

For the uninitiated, Silk Smitha was the undisputed siren of the south film industry in the 80s and 90s, popular for her dare-to-bare acts in a number of films. Her plump, curvy body which she revealed without inhibitions was her drawcard.

Now, Dirty Picture, based on the tragic life of Silk Smitha, pitches Vidya Balan as the seductress, dressed in skimpy blouses and thigh-baring ghagras. The first glimpse of Vidya’s makeover as Silk Smitha came out recently, and has been met with mixed reactions from film buffs.

Some feel Vidya isn’t plump and curvy enough to play Silk Smitha, while the others have wholeheartedly approved of Vidya as the siren.

Let us know your opinion. Who according to you looks hotter -- Vidya Balan or Silk Smitha?

American accent..

Actress Udita Goswami might not be seen in many films in Bollywood as of now. But the actress is gearing up to do some projects in Hollywood. She recently spent more than two months at Los Angeles meeting up a few filmy people there. The actress has even hired an international manager so she is hopefull that her stint there will be better than the one on desi turf.

Talking about preparing for her big leap, she says, “I am working on my American accent for now. I have a dialect coach and I do about two hours of training, thrice a week. I need to have a good command over the accent before I go there. My agent thinks I have a versatile face and can play different characters, not just Indian. So American-English accent should be my primary way of talking.

But Hollywood isn’t the only thing on Udita’s mind, she is also writing a script. She says, “I’ve had this idea for a very long time. I had started writing, then got confused and stopped. But I’m finally completing it now. The story is ready, I’m working on the screenplay now and I’ve realised that every scene can’t be from a girl’s point of view!”

Quiz her if it is inspired by her (convoluted) love life (with director Mohit Suri) and she says, “Yes, a lot of it is from my real life — but how I can’t reveal. That’s why it’s so special. It’s a sweet, romantic and mature love story. And everything’s real.” She adds, “I wrote the scenes with Naseerudin Shah in mind and no one else. He’s just perfect! I’ll approach him when the script is ready and then I can act out all the scenes! I have my reasons for wanting him in the film too but I can’t tell now.”

Ask her about good friend Gerard Butler? “So, big deal! I am friends with Gerard Butler. I am friends with so many more in LA. Denzil Washington too. Look, I am not into this whole name dropping thing. It’s so wannabe, it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” she says.

Dirrty Picture begins . .

Milan Luthria, the director of actress Vidya Balan’s controversial next film, Dirrty Picture came up with an innovative way to clear her apprehension over her bold and sexy role in the film which is based on the life of actress Silk Smitha, who was famous for her bold show skin. She was also accused by purists of promoting nudity on the silver screen. Naturally, Vidya dithered to figure out how she would bring alive Silk Smitha’s sexuality on screen.

Sources say that Milan advised her to watch flicks like Chicago and Burlesque which portray women with strong and overtly sexual body language. While Vidya plays a bold character in the film, she apparently wanted to make sure everything on the sets went on smoothly from day one. After preparing for almost two months for her role by attending various workshops with all actors, Vidya was finally confident to begin. But she made sure she started it on an auspicious note. The actress, who is a spiritual person by nature wanted to start the first day of the shoot by holding a small puja on the sets.

Meanwhile, actor Tusshar Kapoor, who is playing one of her love-interests in the film was apparently super-nervous on his first day at shoot. Tusshar was not required on day one so when he came to the sets on the next day, he was introduced to actor Naseruddin Shah, who also plays an important part in the film.

Tusshar, says the source, has always been a huge fan of Naseer and his films and on meeting him, he was tongue tied. Though he wanted to go up to Naseer and talk, he stood rooted to the spot like a star-struck kid. But this didn’t last too long because Naseer’s wife, Ratna Pathak Shah came to his rescue. Ratna who has earlier worked with Tusshar in Golmaal Returns, is familiar with Tusshar and knows him personally as well. She made it a point to introduce Tusshar to her husband and only after that happened Tusshar relaxed and started to shoot.

A source who was present on the sets says, “Tusshar is a big fan of Naseerji and wanted to break the ice between them. Since he hasn’t interacted with Naseer at all, he felt it would be awkward to just go up to him and introduce himself. That is when Ratna came and introduced the two of them and soon the duo was spotted chatting away to glory and discussing films.”

Sneha to play Ayesha Takia's mom

Smiling beauty Sneha had been too busy in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films till date that she never agreed to do a Hindi film though opportunities came her way. But now the lady has agreed to try her luck in Bollywood.

Her debut will be with veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah. Sources in Kollywood say that Sneha is so happy to get an opportunity to share the screen space with Naseeruddin Shah and she decided to lap it up.

In this film titled Mad Dad to be directed by Revathy Verma of June R fame, she will play Naseeruddin Shah's wife and mom to a grown up daughter to be played by Aysha Takia.

Ishqiya sequel coming up..

Going by the critical acclaim their film Ishqiya got last year, Shemaroo Entertainment and Vishal Bharadwaj Pictures have announced the sequel of the film.

Said Shemaroo Entertainmenr director Hiren Gada, “ The yet untitled film, to be directed by Abhishek Chaubey, will have the same cast and crew. Right now the film is in the scripting stage and once it is locked, we will think of incorporating a few other names as the script demands. In all probability, the film will go on the floors in the middle of this year."

It is said that several production houses had approached Chaubey to direct the sequel. He too was in talks and wanted to make a sequel to the film with John Abraham. But nothing worked out.

Chaubey took a long break to decide his next film. Once he firmed up his mind, he decided to go ahead and direct the Ishqiya sequel.

Vidya and Naseer in bed again ??

Vidya Balan has been collecting Best Actor trophies for her portrayal as Krishna in Ishqiya at several recent film award ceremonies. From April, she starts shooting for Ekta Kapoor’s The Dirty Picture, in which she plays soft porn queen, Vijaylakshmi aka Silk Smitha, who worked in over 200 Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films before she was found dead in her Chennai apartment.

Her untimely death in 1996 was attributed to financial problems, disillusionment with love and alcohol. But in her short career, Silk Smitha became a cult figure with films like Moondru Mugam (1982) and Layanam (1989), that had her playing a bikini-clad super agent beating up king-size thugs.

“This film takes me into unexplored territory and I am pinning my hopes on Milan (director Milan Luthria) to carry me through what promises to be one of my most challenging roles ever,” admits Balan, who will reportedly get up close and personal with Tusshar Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah. She has already shared some intimate on-screen moments with Naseer in Ishqiya last year.

“I can’t thank him enough for being such a rock during Ishqiya and am looking forward to working with Naseer saab again. I’m as excited and nervous as a schoolgirl but am sure I will be far more comfortable with him this time after having seen the chemistry in Ishqiya.”

Balan has also been asked to put on a few extra kilos so she can look as voluptuous as the south Indian actor. “These days, everyone from my director to my stylists have been telling me to stop dieting and start eating more. Silk Smitha wasn’t exactly reed thin,” she smiles, quickly adding that her character will be Luthria’s interpretation of the actor.

“Sabrina, my character in No One Killed Jessica was a very fulfilling experience as an actor, given that it was modelled on such a strong real-life personality (slain model Jessica Lall’s sister Sabrina). So was Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahani, which I filmed at a stretch in Kolkata last year, and has me playing a pregnant woman on a revenge trail. But The Dirty Picture is another story altogether. Like everyone else, I’m wondering what Milan’s Silk Smitha will eventually turn out to be like.”

They got intimate too...

* Neha Dhupia-Raghuveer Yadav My Friend Hitler, 2011

* Priyanka Chopra-Annu Kapoor 7 Khoon Maaf, 2011

* Rajesh Khanna-Laila Khan Wafaa: A Deadly Love Story, 2008

* Amitabh Bachchan-Jiah Khan Nishabd, 2007

* Amitabh Bachchan-Tabu Cheeni Kum, 2007

* Victor Bannerjee-Perizad Zorabian Joggers’ Park, 2003

* Manisha Koirala-Ranveer Shorey Ek Chotisi Love Story, 2002

* Rekha-Akshay Kumar Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, 1996

* Shah Rukh Khan-Deepa Sahi Maya Memsaab, 1993

* Rajesh Khanna-Sabiha Anokha Rishta, 1986