Vidya, Naseer get 'dirty'

The reactions to the first trailer of The Dirty Picture unveiled last week were overwhelming. Producer Ekta Kapoor has now decided to immediately cut a second trailer and release it within the next few weeks to keep the momentum going. Footage as it is being shot is being brought to the editing room daily to kick-start work on Trailer No. 2 that promises to be hotter than the first.

Meanwhile, choreographer Pony Verma is celebrating the fact that the first promos took a lot of shots from her first song picturised on Naseeruddin Shah, an ageing superstar, and Vidya Balan, the struggling item girl. 

“It encapsulates the highlight moments from various chartbusters over the years, including the Jeetendra-Sridevi’s matka song from Tohfa (1984),” informs Verma, adding that both the actors went through 15 to 20 costume changes for all their looks in that one track. 

“Naseer sahab’s bling came from MGR and his moves from Kamal Haasan. He’s a typical ’80s hero.”

The 61-year-old actor, who will be seen in his first item in this film, rehearsed the jhatkas and matkas for over two months. 

“He truly was patience personified! I made him run through the rain, one retake after another. In one shot, Vidya had to nibble on his ear-lobe and with us coaxing her to nip harder, she almost bit his ear off,” she laughs. 

To get the looks, attitude and locations right, the choreographer spent hours watching the Bollywood blockbusters she’s grown up on and editing footage for a show reel to show to director Milan Luthria. 

“I’ve choreographed songs before, but this one was different. For the first time I went into a film with a bound script in my hand that I knew by heart,” she reminisces. 

The dance director is all praise for Vidya, whom she had earlier worked with for a classical number in Bhool Bhulaiya (2007). But in The Dirty Picture, Verma has turned her into Silk Smitha. 

Says Pony, “I know her body and what she’s capable of. She’s made people sit up in shock with the first poster itself. The shot of her in the red sari was from my song, it’s great to know that my vision is the face of the film.”