When Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria decided to make a film based on the life story of the controversial actress Silk Smitha, famously called as sex-symbol, they would have least expected that this movie irk Silk Smitha’s brother V Naga Vara Prasad and he would send them a legal notice.
"We came to know through TV channels and newspaper reports that The Dirty Picture portrays my sister in a rather obscene way. Ekta Kapoor is making the film with Vidya Balan in the lead role. Neither the producer nor the director contacted us (the family). What right do the producer and the director have to make this film, without the family's consent?" Vara Prasad said while talking to Mumbai Mirror.
He confirmed that he has indeed served Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria a legal notice.
"There still has been no response from their side. We are now going to send a second notice in a couple of days through a High Court lawyer in Hyderabad. If they go ahead with the release, we will be compelled to initiate proceedings."
Silk Smitha originally named Vijayalakshmi, hailed from a small village in Andhra Pradesh. Her only brother Vara Prasad, who is a semi-literate and still lives in the village, said that the content of the movie was hurtful towards him and Silk Smitha’s family members.
"We learned that they made the film based on inputs given by an alleged boyfriend of Smitha in Chennai. If they wanted to make a perfect film with facts in place, they should have contacted us to know about her childhood at least," said her brother.
"We have to see the content of the film. Whatever is objectionable has to be deleted. Those days, the media was limited hence we could not get the actual truth behind her death. Many believe that she ended her life because of financial problems. It may not be the truth,” he added.
He made it clear that he isn’t doing this for money but to protect his sister’s as well as his family’s reputation.
"We don't need anything from them. We just want them not to hurt us and our relatives," he said added that he would do his best to prevent the release on the movie on December 2nd, which also happens to be Silk Smitha’s birth date.
Milan Luthria confirmed the news and said, “"Basically people like us tend to get into a situation like this very late in the day. It is very difficult to say anything at all as our legal advisors have warned us not to comment since the matter is subjudice.”
“My only concern is that things should go well and this course of events should not harm the product. It is tough to say anything more at this stage, as we don't know exactly how things are going to unfold. The lawyers are looking in to the papers and they will take proper action,” he concluded.