Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture

Three things make a film run: entertainment, entertainment, entertainment. And I AM entertainment.

Silk’s words of wisdom, spoken with a naughty wink and a seductive smile by Vidya Balan, sum up why The Dirty Picture is a runaway hit.

Vidya Balan’s thoroughly entertaining — and stunningly bold — portrayal of a southern sex siren of the ’80s has enabled The Dirty Picture to notch up close to Rs 45 crore in the first five days of its release, probably the highest ever in a Bolly film where a woman is calling the shots.

In the first three days, it earned Rs 32 crore nationwide, of which Rs 1.5 crore came from Calcutta and its suburbs, which account for 200 of the 1,800-odd screens across the country that The Dirty Picture has released on.

“It’s rare for a Bollywood film without a central male lead to be so much in demand right from Day One. Given the theme, we had expected The Dirty Picture to do better in single screen theatres, but it is the multiplex crowd that is flocking to the film,” said Debashish De of Aum Moviez, the regional distributors of the Ekta Kapoor-produced film.

Focusing on the life and loves of a no-holds-barred starlet who uses her body as her passport to stardom, The Dirty Picture — made and marketed on a Rs 30 crore budget — has hit box-office bullseye thanks to a powerhouse performance by Vidya and the hard-hitting one-liners that are drawing ceetis and taalis, gasps and giggles.

“The box-office collections across the country have been exceptional and the film shows no signs of slowing down. The Dirty Picture should prove to be one of the biggest earners of 2011,” said a Mumbai-based trade analyst.

All the four INOX properties in the city have been notching up one houseful show after another. “Our occupancies went through the roof on the first three days and with Tuesday being a holiday for Muharram, the footfalls have been on the higher side,” is the word from INOX.

“The weekend was rock-solid. Friday was slow, but riding on the back of excellent reviews and strong word-of-mouth, business picked up remarkably on Saturday and Sunday,” said an official of Fame Cinemas.

The Dirty Picture’s crowd-pulling power is also a first for a Bolly film with an adults-only certification. The young and the not-so-young are trooping in to watch the Vidya histrionics and heaving cleavage. “Though young couples have comprised a large section of the audience, we have also had families coming in,” said the Fame Cinemas official.

Like the Bahirvani family of Ballygunge who walked in for a Sunday evening show at INOX (Forum). Headcount: 12. Age group: 21 to 64. “Everyone in the family enjoyed the film. More than the skin show, it was the emotional story of a woman and that struck a chord with us,” said father-of-three Deepak Bahirvani.