DNA (May 15, 2014)

Cleavages, which have been an integral and almost essential part of Indian cinema since Bindu and Padma Khanna heaved their way into the bosom of fame, may well be things of the past.

According to sources from the Censor Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) the board, so far very liberal with cleavage display, has decided to clamp down heavily on the same.

The first casualty of this newly-discovered disregard for a woman’s modesty in the upper half of her torso is new actress Rupali Krishnarao who plays a prostitute in Ashuu Trikha’s Koyelaanchal. Her cleavage has been blurred by the censor board at several places where the board members found the flesh display too ample.

Considering how much cleavages are part of our Bollywood culture, director Trikha can’t stop grinning over the sheer hypocrisy of this sudden flash of modesty. “The cleavage was blurred as per the censor board’s instruction. I argued with them saying cleavage is an integral part of Bollywood culture. Besides, my heroine plays a prostitute. Years ago in Satyam Shivam Sunderam Zeenat Aman had displayed a lot more than cleavage in a temple sequence.”

Trikha argues his heroine’s anatomy was not open to kids. “My film is for ‘Adults Only’. And adult audiences are mature enough to handle some cleavage. But I saw no point in arguing beyond a point. I just blurred the blouse.” But the director says he has no complaints against the board. “They have become cautiously advanced as opposed to defensively regressive.”

Meanwhile, a sequence in Ananth Mahadevan’s The Xpose showing a starlet in a transparent white sari has been trimmed by the board. Ironically, the same pose by Zeenat in Satyam Shivam Sunderam was allowed to go scot-free.