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“There’s nothing vulgar about The Dirty Picture” – Tusshar Kapoor

By Devansh Patel -

November 30, 2011 - 3:25 PM IST

The first thing I notice when I walk in Tusshar's house is Scarlett Johansson seductively lying on the table. I meet eye to eye with her and then pick her up

“There’s nothing vulgar about The Dirty Picture” – Tusshar Kapoor

and start to flip the glossy GQ. What were you thinking? Just then my dear friend Tusshar Kapoor walks in wearing the most relaxed outfit - hoody jumper and

track pants. A quick exchange of handshake and hug and he makes himself comfy on his brown leather chair. As far as I can remember, Tusshar was always the

underdog in the film fraternity, choosing movies that would either establish and label him as the 'boy next door' or a 'comedian' and then would spring a

surprise with the most unpredictable of roles in those genres that you'd think Tussh could've never been a part of. He's got a chameleon type quality to his

work. But that's what good actors do, don't they? They have a habit of surprising you, and one such surprise, a pleasant one comes in the form of The

Dirty Picture. The actor clearly believes in doing quality work than worry about what genres it is and how people perceive him. Honesty is a product of

his humble roots and the star status a product of the family he grew up in, but one thing's certain- he embodies Bollywood's favourite archetype, the strong

man with a soft centre. UK's Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama's London correspondent meets the man who is eternally addicted to movies

and his latest obsession, Vidya 'Silk' Balan. Move on Scarlett, it's time!

"We were doing the PR before the shooting began"

The Dirty Picture buzz is maddening because we had actually started building up the hype slowly and steadily. We were doing the PR before the shooting

began. The title of the movie was hitting the nail on the head types. It was bang on and then came the fact that the story was revolving around the life of

Silk Smitha. These two things along with the teaser and poster campaign created quite a frenzy that people will finally see tomorrow when the film is

released. Did I forget the song 'Oh La La'? (Laughs).

"There are explicit scenes but you will be drawn more by each individual performance"

There are some explicit scenes but it's intertwined with the drama. The Dirty Picture doesn't promote and promise sleaze. We've made spicy movies before but

we've always got content that's over and above the masala. The masala is just a spicy add on. There's nothing vulgar about The Dirty Picture. There

are explicit scenes but more so, it's a drama and a journey of this one woman called Silk and the three men in her life.

"Ramakant's progression from being an unsuccessful writer to a confident guy who has come into his own touched me"

What I loved about my character Ramakant is that he's a very colourful guy. His progression from being an unsuccessful writer to a confident guy who has come

into his own touched me. He keeps discovering himself and evolving. All the humour, anger and romance are all suppressed and it keeps coming out of him in

phases of his life. Silk is literally the driving force for Ramakant in the movie and guess what? She even takes him on a proper drive (laughs). He has got

lots of shades. He has also got the happiest track in the film where he is rising as a writer and Silk is rising as an actress. Playing Ramakant was a

challenging process because I had to maintain the continuity.

"There is a portion in the movie where I dirty dance"

There is a portion in the movie where I dirty dance in my bedroom. Silk has showered her love on me and it becomes like an outburst. Milan loved it and he

decided to shoot it funnily. I think that's why Milan thinks that I am good at comedy. It's a silent scene and it's still funny. That's its USP.

"It's easy to fall in love with Silk because she is so confident of who she is"

There's a funny line in the film where Silk is trying to trick me by blind folding me and I tell him - Tum mere pe apattijanak haalat to nahi karne waale

ho? I burst out laughing while delivering the lines and so did Vidya. It's easy to fall in love with Silk because she is so confident about being who

she is that it just radiates that oomph immediately.

"If there was an actress who could've played this role other than Vidya, it would've been Rekhaji"

I personally feel that no one could've acted Silk the way Vidya Balan has done, and if there was an actress who could've played this role other than Vidya,

it has to be Rekhaji. I told this to Vidya and she took it as a compliment. You cannot switch on and off when you play such powerful roles. I believe that

Vidya and Rekhaji are the best in the business to play Silk.

"For years and years I can now tell people that I worked with Naseeruddin Shah"

Working with Naseer saab and sharing screen space with him is absolutely a dream come true. For years and years, I can now tell people that I worked with

Nasseruddin Shah. To work with such a personality is like having an extra feather in the cap, not just for me, but for Vidya, Emraan and even Milan as a

director. He is so effortless and we as actors have to think before we pause and he just does it with such ease and style that it's remarkable to watch the

actor perform. All we do is learn from him seeing him on the sets. For me working with Naseer saab is like calling the movie a memorable movie with

commercial value and very few movies have got such a type of branding.

"Emraan comes across being this casual guy but he is very serious about his work"

I've always believed that Emraan was a great find. He comes across being this casual guy but he is very serious about his work. He rehearses the scenes and

he is totally into his characters when he performs. Emraan is a revelation in our industry.

"Balaji Motion Pictures have learned from their mistakes in the past and that's our success formula"

Balaji Motion Pictures have learned from their mistakes in the past and that's our success formula. As far as television was concerned, Ekta had learned from

her own mistakes and became the queen of the small screen back then. But in the movies too we've got the learning curve and have improved with each movie of

ours. Ekta is the best producer you will ever have and we are blessed for having her. She has a great penchant for marketing and will make sure her movie is

the most talked about movie of that year. She's a go-getter.