A voluptuous Vidya Balan dancing to 'Ooh la la' in The Dirty Picture brought back memories of South Indian actresses gyrating to catchy tunes in the 1980s. Balan’s transformation from the girl-next-door to a sexy siren may have surprised the ordinary movie-goer, but for a majority of Indian men, the bad girl has always been the ultimate pin-up girl.
Long before the Internet brought porn into the drawing rooms, Indian men clandestinely watched starlets heaving bosoms and moaning suggestively in South Indian films of the 1980s.
“I remember watching late-night movies starring Silk Smitha, Disco Shanti, Polyester Padmini and Nylon Nalini on mute to ensure my parents did not wake up,” said chemical analyst Sameer Sawant, 39. He is not alone.
An entire generation of male audiences were hooked on to films starring the “dancing girls of the 1980s”. It did not matter whether or not they understood the language. “These women were cast in films just for titillation. Their clothes were provocative and the camera lingered on their curves,” said Balan. The actress reprises the role of Silk Smitha — one of the first South Indian actresses to gain popularity cutting across the barriers of language and region.
In The Dirty Picture, Balan’s character oozes oomph and overt sexuality, much to the delight of male audiences. And why not, asks director Milan Luthria. “Lust is a part of our lives and nature, so why shy away from it?”
Sexologists and social scientists agree with Luthria. “Indian men have always fantasised about voluptuous women and mainstream cinema has managed to repeatedly cater to their demand,” said Dr Rajan Bhonsle, professor and head of the department of sexual medicine, KEM hospital. “In my line of work, I come across a significant percentage of men of all age groups obsessed with busty women,” he added.
Experts say the older generation is more prone to seeking titillation through the mainstream media. “Middle-aged Indian men are more repressed than the younger lot since they grew up at a time when sex was a taboo topic,” said Dr Gurvinder Kalra, assistant professor and consultant psychiatrist and sex therapist at the LTMG Sion hospital. He said today’s youth may not have the same fascination for Silk Smitha or Balan’s portrayal of her since they live in an open society and sex and its reference are present in every sphere of life.
(Some names changed to protect privacy)
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