Entertainment - Itsy Bitsy Items

After Kareena Kapoor’s bikini act, it’s now Priyanka Chopra’s turn to sizzle on the screen in Dostana, in which she will be seen donning a gold-coloured swimsuit. While Kareena created quite a stir with her two-piece act, other Bollywood hotties are not to be left behind. Swimsuit or bikini scenes have become as big a craze now as item numbers were a year ago and actresses are ready to shed their inhibitions and clothes to up the glam quotient of a movie. So we have Ameesha Patel seducing Saif Ali Khan in a yellow swimsuit in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Minissha Lamba dropping her girl-next-door image to put on swimwear for her next movie, Kidnap. Newcomer Mugdha Godse will also don a bikini for her debut film, Fashion. Are bikini scenes become a must-have now? Mugdha Godse feels more heroines are donning swimwear now because they are willing to experiment. “Heroines now are more confident about their bodies and are prepared to experiment. I won’t say that bikini scenes have become a must-have, but actors now are striving to have perfect, toned bodies and film-makers are building on that,” she says. She adds that bikini scenes are not a shock factor anymore. “Most heroines are ready to don swimsuits and bikinis for their movies. So it’s not as talked about as it was earlier,” says Mugdha. And, no, she doesn’t feel that swimsuit scenes are a marketing ploy. The south film industry is also on to the swimsuit trend, with actresses Nayanthara and Namitha sporting swimwear in their movies. “Every industry has to move on and be with the times. We have done enough of crying on screen. It’s time we changed our image,” says Namitha, who appeared in a swimsuit for Billa. She adds that she’s happy about the positive change and had no inhibitions about wearing a swimsuit. “I was born glamorous and had no problems with the swimsuit scene,” she says. Celebrity stylist Anaita Shroff Adjania, who also styled for Dhoom 2, however, feels that bikini scenes should be in a movie only when they are required. “Bipasha Basu wore a swimsuit in Dhoom 2 as she was doing the role of a modern girl living abroad who went shopping every day. She could not have worn a saree while going for a swim. So, the swimsuit scene was necessary there. But it’s not important for every film to have a swimsuit scene to add on to the glamour quotient,” she says. But she agrees that heroines now are more prepared to wear glamorous clothes as they are very conscious about their bodies. “Heroines now are aware of their bodies and it’s high time they are. If you’re doing a glamorous role, you have to make sure you can physically carry off that role. We can’t cover up for body flaws all the time,” she says.