Vidya Balan's Dirty Picture Rolls in February

Vidya Balan will begin filming for Milan Luthria's Dirty Picture on February 1, 2011.

The film is based on the life of South actress Silk Smitha who was known for her titilating roles.

The film will wrap in March in a start-to-finish schedule.

Luthria explains why he cast Vidya for the role.

"I needed a powerhouse actor and one woman people find desirable. Also, there's the shock value," Luthria told HT.

"It's a difficult role to play since one needs to put on weight, bold lines, daring scenes, have a shocking attitude and lot of depth," he added.

He says Balan found the script compelling enough to shed her inhibitions for the role.

Smitha, who went on to act in over 200 Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and also a few Hindi films, died a lonely and tragic death at age 35. She was found dead in her Chennai apartment in 1996. The film will focus on the tragedy behind the mask of a sex symbol.

Balan is currently filming in Kolkata for Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani, a woman centric film.

She will be next seen in Rajkumar Gupta's No One Killed Jessica, based on Jessica Lal murder case. The film is due for release on January 7.