Delhi Belly

Vidya Balan’s stellar performance in Ekta Kapoor’s The Dirty Picture has received an overwhelming response in its opening week. The film is reported to have earned above a net Rs 30 crore at the domestic box office in the first three days of its release.

Eminent film distributor and exhibitor Akshaye Rathi says, “The response and frenzy is overwhelming at our theatres. The opening day’s collections of The Dirty Picture matched the collections of some of the biggest films in recent times. The huge response at the box office reinforces the fact that the biggest hero in films is hardcore commercial content, backed by good distribution strategies.”

Celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar points out, “Apart from the making and performances, a lot of credit for the mind-blowing opening of The Dirty Picture goes to the aggressive manner in which Ekta Kapoor promoted the film. Even the eye-popping publicity stills and poster designs by Marching Ants majorly contributed to all the hype and hoopla. The way this film has kick-started, I wont be surprised if it makes it to the list of top ten grossers of 2011 and bags a lot of awards for Vidya Balan.”

Directed by Milan Luthria, The Dirty Picture is an unofficial biopic of Southern sex symbol Silk Smitha. Apart from Vidya and Emraan, it features Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor in key roles and recreates the era of the 1980s Southern film industry and its workings.

In recent times, a series of Bollywood films such as Mahesh Bhatt’s Murder 2, Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly and now Ekta Kapoor’s The Dirty Picture, which have been awarded the ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board, have turned out to be huge money spinners. What can we say, but here’s wishing the youth a lot of dirty fun at the cinemas!

When Rakhi Sawant is angry, not many in the country can have the guts to stop her! The latest to face the ire of Bollywood’s biggest firecracker, is none other than the Censor Board, for having bleeped out the words ‘Choos Le’ (suck) from her song ‘Jawani Ki Bank Loot Le’ in her upcoming film Loot.

Rakhi insists that though the words could be controversial in nature when singled out, in her song, they have been used aptly and with the right connotations, without any vulgar or offensive meaning.

“If the Censor Board can pass songs like ‘Bhaag D.K. Bose’ (Delhi Belly) and ‘Jhak Maar Ke’ (Desi Boyz), why should they have a bias towards my song ‘Jawani Ki Bank Loot Le.’ Why am I being targeted by the Board, whereas John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Imran Khan can get away with it,” Rakhi questions.

But since the Censor Board is in no mood to listen, Rakhi has decided to march straight up toIndia’s most famous anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare with her plea.

Confirming this, her publicist Dale Bhagwagar says, “It is true that Rakhi has decided to approach Anna Hazare. She is currently doing her research on songs which she considers vulgar and objectionable.”

He adds, “She plans to carry their videos and CD’s to Mr Hazare’s village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar. Rakhi wants Mr Hazare to judge for himself, whether her song ‘Jawani Ki Bank Loot Le’ is vulgar compared to the others passed by the Censor Board.”

Just for the record, the lyrics of Rakhi’s song read, “Main russ malaai hoon, jannat se aayee hoon, saamne parosi hoon, aake choos le… hey… saiyaan jawani ki bank loot le.”