Are Rakhi, Veena fit to be silk?

News of National Award winning flick, The Dirty Picture being remade in Bengali and Tamil with starlets Rakhi Sawant, 33, and Veena Malik, 28, in the lead, respectively, has not gone down well with Bollywood insiders.

News of National Award winning flick, The Dirty Picture being remade in Bengali and Tamil with starlets Rakhi Sawant, 33, and Veena Malik, 28, in the lead, respectively, has not gone down well with Bollywood insiders. They say the two will make actor Vidya Balan’s memorable act in the Silk Smitha biopic look like a sham.

“There is a stark difference in the acting capabilities of a Vidya Balan and that of all the Rakhis and Veenas of the world. These two have built their career on controversies, so, less said about their acting talent the better. Vidya portrayed the role with a lot of grace, it didn’t look vulgar. But with the other two playing Silk, it’ll indeed be a dirty picture,” says trade analyst Joginder Tuteja.

Trade pundit Amod Mehra seconds that. “Vidya had a clean image and the fact that she did such a role got people talking, while Rakhi and Veena are known only as sex symbols. If they do the film, it will fall flat. It’ll look like a sleazy film,” he adds.

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Sawant and Malik, on the other hand, are quite excited about their roles. "Vidya hasn’t done anything in The Dirty Picture. I will do hotter scenes in the Bengali remake. Even Vidya will be surprised after seeing my character. I will be better than her. The sari is meant to be taken off in films, not worn. Films become a hit because of this, not because of stars," says motor mouth Sawant.

While Malik, who will debut with this remake in the South, says, “I fell in love with the role. It is a female-centric film and a powerful role to make a debut in South Indian Cinema.”

Girish Johjar, head of acquisition and distribution of Balaji Motion Pictures, producer of The Dirty Picture, reveals, "There are a couple of filmmakers who want to make the film in other languages, but they haven’t approached us officially. The copyrights are still with us for all languages. The ones in news right now are all illegal remakes. If they do it, we will take action."



(With Inputs from Collin Rodrigues)



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