During one of my visits to the Bay Area, I chanced upon a copy of the Desi Tribune. As the name suggests, it turned out to be a regional daily catering specifically to California's large Indian population, with an accent on the latest news from back home. It read like an issue of Deccan Chronicle, or the Bangalore Times - poor standards of writing and editing, more information about the lives of b-list celebrities than you'd normally bargain for, and providing some comic relief all the same. That day's issue carried an article about actress Anjana Sukhani, and focused on her statement that she would consider wearing a bikini on screen only if "the role required it". This got me thinking (which is just what you're supposed to do when confronted with material of this sort, right?) about how the bikini has seemingly caused everyone in Bollywood and the audience to re-examine their sensibilities, and has provided so much fodder for the media to fill up print-space and airtime. We've come to the point where actresses, fully aware that displays of bare flesh are likely to have them pigeonholed, must insist that they will be taking up "only serious roles" in the future, if only to reaffirm their acting credentials. It comes with being subject to our society's ultra-high standards.
What has me intrigued, however, is that I seem to remember the likes of Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore, Parveen Babi and Dimple Kapadia (among others) appearing on screen in skimpy swimwear back in the day. How come their credibility doesn't appear to have suffered for it? How come those images have aged gracefully into culthood, as opposed to the notoriety which seems to accompany the ones of today? How come today's heroines have such a big cross to bear, and must resort to the will-wear-if-role-demands-it line when asked about it? Or was it a similar story in the 70s and, belonging to a different era, we'll simply never know about the controversy generated then which might have faded over time? Pop-culture theorists and film junkies, feel free to unleash your greater wisdom on me.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Dimple and Parveen (note I'm excluding Zeenie) toed the same media line.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that the bikini would become commonplace by now!
Anand
It is fairly commonplace now, which is what makes all the hoopla even more amusing!
ReplyDeleteI think it was roughly the same scene in the 70s (doesn't everyone want to be a *serious* actor?), but the difference is the well-oiled PR machine that watches over stars these days. Given the carefully constructed public personas that people maintain, there are no spontaneously outrageous moments. I remember reading a quote by Raj Kapoor in India Today (a very long time ago; I think it was a rather nice collectible issue, but can't remember the exact details), on Sataym Shivam Sundaram, where he said (I'm paraphrasing): 'Let them come to see Zeenat's tits, they'll go home remembering the film'. There's no way anyone's going to say that today! And of course, there's no chance in hell that anyone will do a Protima Bedi (what a fun back-story: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/proj_tabloid/protimastory.shtml).
ReplyDeleteYeah, these are true pop-culture moments.
Having said that, the trash of today is the pop-culture of tomorrow, so who knows, really.
Convincing points as always, Rags! A big *wow* at the Raj Kapoor and Protima Bedi stories. Too bad we live in times where big brother seems to watch over them stars more than ever, but like you said, who knows really..
ReplyDeleteWell I think those women you talked about (Dimple, Parveen...) had their own cross(es?) to bear; remember they had that "westren" look.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they were ever considered typical "bhartiya nari" by any stretch of the imagination.
And, though I wasn't around then, I think Sharmila did face some flak for those bikini posters.
Now imagine if Hema Malini appeared in a bikini..what furore that would've caused!
Good point, especially the contrast with Hema Malini. I guess having a "western look" automatically made you different in everyone's eyes in that time.
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