Ugly outfit, uglier reaction

They're not the fashion police, but Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat's New Year's ensemble was spicy enough to attract an official investigation after a social worker complained she and her act were obscene.

At left, you'll notice Sherawat in what appears to be stripper wear: glittery g-string, barely there bikini top, and incomprehensible chaps. But really, what makes it all the more hideous is that it's stripper wear attached to a flesh-colored bodysuit; skintight, but certainly not endangering the audience with the threat of her lady bits.

I could and will quibble with the outfit. However, the reaction it's attracted is more odious than any bedazzled wonder she could have donned. SHE IS ABSOLUTELY, FULLY CLOTHED. And even if she wasn't, how is this any more obscene than the photos that are routinely printed in the city tabloids? Than the stars that romp through waterfalls for passionate kisses (or simulated sex) on the big screen? Correct me if I'm wrong, but she was performing at a private party. If you don't like it, leave your swank, five-star Mumbai Marriott and get drunk on expensive booze elsewhere.

I know there are a lot of people who will take this up and start crying about saving the children, etc., but much as I malign her, Mallika did kinda think about the kids here. There's nary a possibility for an upskirt shot here because she's encased in a beige sausage casing, festooned with sparkles. It's not an outfit I'd choose, but you could do worse (Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, I hope your vaginas are listening).

I do sort of wish she'd gone whole hog, just performed in a bikini, but I just don't know if the nation could handle it.

Merriment and social policing

Ah, thank God: the Asom Sena will save Guwahati from indecency this year. I was so worried people in the city might actually have to be subjected to making mature choices about where and with whom they want to spend their holiday!

The Indian Express explains, "Asom Sena, the vigilante wing of All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU), has warned that it would not remain a silent spectator, if people crossed the lakshmanrekha of decency. ... Asom Sena is concentrating more on the dozen or more lounge bars and numerous restaurants and highway dhabas, some of which have already announced “exciting parties” for December 31. Two-years-ago, the Sena volunteers had ransacked a major hotel in Guwahati on New Year’s Eve allegedly for crossing the limits of decency. “You cannot allow people to dance with almost nothing on, just because they are happy that the New Year has come,” Nath said."

I'm sure the 20-odd police will be more than happy to help the scantily clad locate lovely clothings...