Vidya Balan made a gainful start with "No One Killed Jessica" in 2011 and at the end of the year she is ready to rock the box office with "The Dirty Picture". Releasing Friday, the film will see her shedding all inhibitions to breathe life into her character of sex symbol, Silk.

Intense roles are her most characteristic traits that she portrayed in films like "Paa" and "No One Killed Jessica", but Vidya has left all that behind to play a sex symbol in director Milan Luthria's "The Dirty Picture", which will open with 2, 000 prints across the globe.

This is for the first time that the 33-year-old will be seen in a dare to bare act in her six-year long career that has encompassed roles of a single mother, a grieving sister and a lover.

"The Dirty Picture" was not an easy choice, says Vidya, adding "There was a certain amount of mental preparation about being uninhibited and being unapologetic about being uninhibited."

Vidya has done everything - from wearing garish clothes to showing meat to making provocative dance moves - for the role of Silk, a make-up girl who graduates to be an extra and then the most wanted heroine of the 1980s.

Set in the southern film industry, the film revives the era of 1980s by encompassing the rise and fall of the screen sensation Silk who knew her audiences, and it didn't seem like anything would stop the fiercely ambitious starlet, till it did, in the shape of unrequited love.

To the world, she was the queen of sensuality, but at heart, Silk was just another woman craving true love. Luthria said: "There is fun in knowing unknown things, exploring a woman's mind, body and spirit in such a way as has never been done before. So, when the idea came to me, I was like why not?"

But all this comes to an unfortunate end when Silk encounters deceit and infidelity.

It is no surprise that the film is coming from Balaji Motion Pictures stable as its head honcho Ekta Kapoor is known for breaking norms and promoting unconventional themes with films like "Ragini MMS" and "LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha".

The small budget movies raked enough moolah for the producer and now "The Dirty Picture" has generated enough curiosity, courtesy the promos and the song "Oh la la".

A lot is riding on the film made at Rs.30 crore - if Vidya has taken a risk by stepping out of her comfort zone, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah too will be seen playing something he has not done before. Tusshar Kapoor and Emraan Hashmi are also cast in important lead roles and the film's performance is expected to play an important role in their career too.