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 The bikini bug -
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 | | Ooh la la! Yes, that's sexy Lara Dutta in a bikini in Blue |
By Nikita Doval
In 1960, Brian Hyland sang about a shy, young girl in a bikini, who was afraid to come out in the open because somebody would see. While an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow-polka-dot bikini in itself might be a small matter, wearing it was definitely not. And it is ironical that the age which saw the most licentious forms of free sex should also count this song amongst its catchiest and favourite numbers.
But much water has flowed under the bridge and over innumerable bikini clad bodies. We don’t know who was the inspiration for Hyland’s single, but five decades later, he will still have something to sing about if he visits Bollywood. There they say, our young nymphets, the bikini-clad ones, are still afraid to come out in the open. “1,2,3,4, stick around we’ll tell you more…”
It is one of the strange mysteries of our time that while we seem to have embraced just about every fashion form from around the world, we are still in awe of the bikini, especially if there is a Bollywood actor poured into one.
No one gives a damn when ordinary women stock their beach wardrobe with bikinis or models sashay down the ramp, but put a Kareena Kapoor in one, tut, tut, goes the steady supply of headlines and raised eyebrows.
For years, Sharmila Tagore was the only Hindi film actor who dared to be seen in a bikini (first in Aamne Samne and not An Evening in Paris as is widely believed). She should have promptly been awarded for that! Then along came Dimple Kapadia, all of sixteen, and wore it in Bobby. However, it was always a trickle, this trend of Bollywood actors doing the bikini act. Now it has become a tide, albeit a minor one. The best bit about Blue is Lara Dutta’s super toned bikini avatar while Amrita Arora tried to boost her onscreen fortunes in Kambakkt Ishq. Shruti Haasan’s luck did not hold in her debut film in spite of the bikini.
Somehow the water and beachwear has been equated with wanton sexuality in Indian cinema. “I wore a bikini six years ago and even now it comes up in interviews, says actor Neha Dhupia. Says fashion photographer Dabboo Ratnani, “Our films are made for the masses while fashion shows are for a limited audience. So models can wear a bikini and walk down the ramp, but when actors wear them, it is a novelty.” Perhaps that explains why a young actor who modelled previously in bikinis is averse to displaying those pictures. Her agency is under strict instructions not to release those pictures. “That is not the image she wishes to portray,” is the prim reply. Image is the bulwark on which every Hindi film actor rests her career and hides her heaving bosom.
Initially, the little starlets are all game to show skin, wear a bikini or whatever anyone wants. But, once they are safely ensconced as stars, image and prudishness enter the contracts in which they limit the number of skin-scenes. Says film critic Shubhra Gupta, “In the seventies, the character of the leading lady, quite like their male counterparts, subsumed both good and bad qualities and hence was willing to experiment.” Braver times, braver directors and braver actors, is how Gupta describes that era. “And while there has been a substantial shift from the virginal portrayal of the eighties and nineties, we are still a long way off from completely embracing the sensual nature of a leading lady.”
It is almost like the Madonna-whore complex where we want the same woman to embody two diverse personalities, but only to the extent that we are comfortable with. Says Ratnani, “The way the industry works, you get typecast if you do bold roles and then everything you are offered is along the same lines.” Dhupia agrees. She had to work really hard to leave behind her Sheesha image. “I have still not left behind the sex symbol tag though I have tried to keep my movie choices offbeat with films like Mithya.”
The actors will make exceptions, of course, for the really big names and that is where Yash Raj Films comes into the picture. According to Gupta, they were the ones who started the whole trend of putting the actor in a bikini. “And when you do it for a big banner, issues like respectability and image perhaps don’t count. So you travel from bikini to fully clothed to wearing it again if the makers are big enough,” adds Gupta. “Also a top line actor will receive less flak than a starlet for wearing one for she has already proved her credentials. Sometimes, it even helps her lose the demure tag, which can stall a career.”
And when you work so hard to achieve that toned figure, it helps to show it off sometime. “There are some who are perhaps still not comfortable and they opt for swimsuit cuts like the monokini which cuts at the waist,” says designer Narresh of Shravan and Narresh who have swimwear stores in different cities. Think Priyanka Chopra in both Dostana and Don.
Earlier, perhaps, the hesitation to don one also came from the fact that not many had the toned body that a bikini demanded, but today with fitness being a byword for success in Bollywood, the excuse has become hopelessly outdated. “Modern India wants to be a part of the global world. It is a confident nation with confident young people who want to fit in and that is why the bikini is now such an integral part of our beachwear,” says Italy-based designer Sanchita, who recently showcased a bikini collection at the fashion week in Delhi. “But when it comes to the public sphere, we still develop cold feet,” she says. “It is not very easy to convince Indian models to wear the bikini on the ramp. You have to devise plenty of what I call clever covers like gauzy maxi shirts, sarong and wraps.” She is, however, retailing from standalone stores in Bangalore and exclusive outlets.
The furore over the bikini is always two-fold with production houses and makers ensuring that they often reveal its presence, quite like a tasty titbit much before the film comes along. “The frenzy is fed with coy denials, mysterious laughter and conflicting stories. The phenomenon acquires a life of its own, especially with 24-hour news channels and it is free publicity all the way, for both the actor and the movie,” says a public relations adviser for movies.
Sex, intrigue, hidden motive, the bikini story seems to have all the ingredients of a desi potboiler in itself but at the end of the day, as Dhupia says, “It is an issue as minuscule as the garment itself. Please let it be.” We agree.
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