In a surprising reversal of trend, Bollywood males did more skin show in films than their female counterparts in the year 2008.
Step aside all you sexy sirens. Your cleavages, midriffs and bouncy bums hardly make for titillating stuff on Bollywood celluloid anymore. Guys with rippling muscles, 6-pack abs and masculine butts have been in constant focus ever since the trail was blazed at the fag end of 2007 when Shahrukh Khan went shirtless for the first time in Om Shanti Om and Ranbir Kapoor did the towel dance and even exposed his bare butt to the camera in Saawariya .
2008 saw the bar of male nudity raised several notches higher by the likes of John Abraham , Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan.
John, who is doubtlessly an object of fantasy among his female (and male) fans, set a new milestone by not just baring his enviable bust, but also giving a peek of his hipline by pulling down his trunks to the limits Censorship would allow in the Karan Johar production Dostana . The movie, a light-hearted spoof on gay relationships, made both its stars – John and Abhishek Bachchan – iconic figures among the gay community. It also became one of the reasons for John to be chosen as the Sexiest Asian Male by a UK-based daily.
The most surprising strip-down of the year, however, was from Akshay Kumar , the actor who doesn’t believe in pumping iron in gymnasium or using myoplexes or other chemical substances to build his body. For the first time in his career, Akshay surprised his fans by going shirtless and exposing his finely shaved chest to the flashing cameras as he posed seductively with a sexy siren at the launch of a denim jeans. One pose even had the naughty girl extending her hand from behind Akshay and unbuttoning his low-waist jeans. That the otherwise conservative Akshay indulged in something as steamy as this goes to show the acceptability male nudity has acquired in Indian society. A few years ago, it would have raised tempers. Today, it only raises the brows of Akshay’s female fans.
However, the most symbolic skin show of the year comes from Aamir Khan , who trained mercilessly for over a year to develop a beefcake that has left many people – including good friend Sachin Tendulkar – flummoxed. Aamir, who doesn’t do anything without reason, has willy-nilly sparked off a new style statement among youth with his by-now-famous Ghajini haircut, which – believe it or not – had to be banned in some colleges because too many students were copying it, and the unique hairdo became a distraction for the studious collegians. Meanwhile, Aamir’s well-sculpted bust has made him the new pin-up boy of Bollywood.
Besides these three prominent stars, year 2008 also saw glimpses of partial nudity from the likes of Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth (in Heroes ) and Ranbir Kapoor (in Bachna Ae Haseeno ).
And year 2009 will see John raising the bar still higher in the upcoming Yashraj Film New York in which he has gone Full Monty and wore not a thread of cloth on his body for a scene that, sadly, evokes more shock than titillation.
Now, that’s a pity!
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