‘Ek Paheli Leela’, ‘Grand Masti’ and the likes: Bollywood finds its ‘Basic Instinct’

‘Ek Paheli Leela’, starring adult star-turned-Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, earned much more in the first week of its release than the likes of ‘NH10′ and ‘Shamitabh’. And this is not the first time that this has happened.

Amidst all the tussle going on between the Censor Board of India and the filmmakers regarding the various fads and trends being practised in movies nowadays, including the refusal to use any part of an old song in another film, TV czarina Ekta Kapoor, who is known for her “own” ways to work and get the work done, has made the boldest move in her career.

The producer and Balaji Telefilms’ head honcho has, apparently, asked the actors of her next production venture ‘XXX’ to sign a “Nudity Clause”, which is expected to continue in all the contracts for her upcoming movies. Simply put, the nudity clause implies that any artiste signing to work in the film in question becomes legally bound to expose as much as he or she is asked to; according to the demands of the script.

Now this may seem to be outrageous on Ekta’s part, but serves as the justification to her being called as the “Czarina”. Sex sells in India, and Ekta knows it. Check the stats for affirmation.

As can be seen, ‘Ek Paheli Leela’, starring adult star-turned-Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, earned much more in the first week of its release than the likes of ‘NH10′ and ‘Shamitabh’. And this is not the first time that this has happened.

Going back in time, if recalled, the 2013 movie ‘Grand Masti’ set the Box Office on fire with its Box Office collections touching Rs 29.8 cr, a greater amount when compared with its prequel ‘Masti’s collections amounting to Rs 26 cr.

‘Grand Masti’, as the name says, was grander in subject and in sexual connotations too. Where the theme of ‘Masti’ was just limited to adultery in marriage, with ‘Grand Masti’ the makers went steps ahead and gave a ‘sexual’ touch to the movie with actresses gyrating in bikinis to foot-tapping songs and the never-ending sexual desires of the male characters. Game, set, match – the movie was a winner all the way. It became the first adult comedy to cross Rs100 cr mark on the Box Office; the critics, though, were not so impressed with the outcome and rated it below average.

But then, even ‘Ek Paheli Leela’ was meted out a similar treatment by the critics. The audiences differed in opinion here too, and flocked to the theatres in numbers to watch Sunny Leone mouth ‘Leela, Leela naam hai maahra’ in her British-Rajasthani accent.

With the towering difference between the preferences of the critics and audiences, one is forced to wonder. Neha Dhupia, when her movie ‘Julie’ was about to release, was quoted saying, “In India, only SRK and sex sell.” The list has only grown in size, with SRK making a momentary exit and making a comeback soonafter; but even then, “sex” stood its ground, like a wall.

Alike Neha, the actresses of today have upped the ante and hence are not refusing to take up bold roles and bolder scenes. So, one can see a kissing scene in all movies being released. Not only does a “kiss” enhance the beauty of the love, but also gives the audience what it demands the most. So, the CBFC might not like it, the critics might abhor it, an actress’ bare-waisted ‘thumka’ in a random item-number or a steamy kiss between the lead pair under the rainy sky or a shower will surely invite people to the cinema halls.

Even Shilpa Shukla, who acted fairly well in Shimit Amin’s ‘Chak De! India’ managed to grab eyeballs only with her second release ‘BA Pass’, in which she played a middle-aged woman sexually exploiting a younger man.

Bollywood has, in recent times, found its ‘Basic Instinct’ with erotica like ‘Hate Story’ and ‘Ragini MMS 2′ and sex comedies like ‘Grand Masti’ and ‘Kuchh Kuchh Locha Hai’, with Sunny Leone gradually becoming the face of all of them. And not-so-surprising is the fact that these kind of movies especially the ones released in the last decade have managed to recover their expenses, if not becoming big hits.

Sex is, certainly, not a taboo anymore. A-list directors have finally let go of their fear of their social image and have begun venturing into the “sex” space, which in yesteryears was considered to be the domain of few B-grade directors. While only few actresses dared to do such roles in the 70s and 80s, today the ‘sharam ka parda’ is no more there, and with no pun intended, no “parda” is there.

Showman Raj Kapoor also exploited the sexuality of his actresses Zeenat Aman and Mandakini in his movies ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ respectively, but as cine-goers would emphasise there was the much needed substance in the movies, which didn’t titilate the audience sexually but emotionally and spiritually, which the movies of today certainly lack.

Having said that, one has to still hold the audiences as the supreme judge, who behold the power to make the movie the winner or to sham it down. So, while a ‘Haider’ might still take time to fasten up its collection and amass the Rs 89.2 cr it did in more than 2 months in a lesser time, “Sex”, and the figures say it loud and clear, is here to stay.

Source:: Indian Express