Bollywood's item queens


What do Mallika Sherawat, Poonam Pandey, Veena Malik, Sherlyn Chopra, and Rakhi Sawant have in common? All of them have succeeded in grabbing headlines with outlandish statements and barely-there clothes.
Mallika Sherawat shot to instant fame with her quote, "Men like talking to my breasts," followed by her '17 kisses' stint in Khwahish. At the music release of Kamal Haasan's Dasavatharam, she wore outrageously revealing clothes, apparently hurting the sensibilities of Tamil people. At a New Year's eve event some years ago, her skimpy outfit got her into trouble again.
Poonam Pandey created a sensation overnight when she said she'd drop all her clothes if Team India won the Cricket World Cup. Then she went ahead and posted her bikini pictures to the Prime Minister's Twitter account.
Pakistani import Veena Malik cosied up to Ashmit Patel on a reality TV show, making her a voyeur's delight. She then posed nude with an ISI tattoo on her arm for the cover of a men's magazine. Aided by her publicist, she then pulled a disappearing stunt, only to resurface two days later to claim she had checked into a 5- star hotel for some R&R.
Sherlyn Chopra recently did a nude photo-session and distributed them to media houses. Controversial statements are also her forte. In one interview, she said, "I don't believe in sticking to the norm of 1:1 ratio. If you can heighten your pleasure in a ratio of 1:3 or 2:4, why not? Do you think the Indian male is well-equipped to satisfy me?"
Rakhi Sawant is the one who started it all. Whether it was a lip-lock (and subsequent fight) withMika Singh or wanting to go on a date with cricketer Kapil Dev, Rakhi has time and again found ways to remain in the news. She courted controversy with public spats, controversial statements and a faux swayamvar - enough fodder to keep the nation entertained. The latest to join the bandwagon is Sunny Leone, the porn star who after an appearance on Bigg Boss 5 quickly signed two films - Jism 2 and Ragini MMS 2.
But does this kind of publicity actually garner work for these girls? Does it help at all in terms of acting roles, live shows or modelling assignments? Mahesh Bhatt says, "Let us be generous towards them rather than dismiss them. After all, it is not easy to succeed here. Sensational headlines definitely grab eyeballs but to translate it into work depends entirely on them. Rakhi Sawant is successful today. For her, achievements have not been easy. Ditto Veena Malik."
Rising in defense of Sunny, Bhatt adds, "It was the media that called her a porn star to make a sensational headline. Sunny is an accomplished adult content star in the West, but has her head firmly placed on her shoulders. It is not fair to place her in the same category."
Producer Ramesh Taurani feels that sparking headlines and grabbing attention is transient and does not benefit in the long run. "What matters ultimately is the talent. Also, how much their presence contributes to a film's success depends on the role in a film."
Echoing Taurani's sentiments, Subhash Ghai says, "It's short-term fame. Finally what matters is potential."
Distributor Ramesh Sippy says that making shocking news is akin to putting up posters of a C-grade film that is never going to garner an opening. "It does not help. I think it gives them personal satisfaction." www.cocoopix.blogspot.com

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