DROOL FACTOR Mr cute, Ms chic 1 Jan 2009 | 171 Views | admin
LACHMI DEB ROY
IF YOU go by the box office, then brawn is out, cocoa beans are in. Yes, yes, we’re talking about the chocolatebox, butter-would n’t-melt-in-his-mouth sort of hero you met in cinemas this year: Imran Khan’s impish grin, Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘firstboyfriend’ eyes or the surprisingly cute Farhan Akhtar. This new band of heroes-next-door stole the show from their muscled counterparts who’re still running around trees and saving damsels in distress. More dishy than dishum-dishum, they fit the image multiplex movie buffs want to identify with.
“Today’s realistic cinema doesn’t really demand the macho kind of look,” says 25year-old Imran Khan whose posters now adorn millions of young women’s rooms after his debut film Jaane Tu Jaane Naa.
“Hindi movies are on a different tangent now, where reality is captured and candyfloss romance has lost favour. People prefer to see their day-to-day life on the silver screen rather than romancing around the trees,” adds Imran, who still has critics raving about his ‘refreshingly different’ performance.
Farhan Akhtar’s urbane attitude and contemporary grooming served him well while playing both the rock star and the corporate suit in Rock On. Hey, you’d bump into this guy. (If you got real lucky...) Akhtar himself says, “The trend today leans towards realistic movies. People want to see characters they can easily identify with. Give them something unimaginable, unattainable and they don’t like it. The mantra is to be realistic, natural and believable. And that perhaps is the reason why the boy-next-door look is considered sexy suddenly.” The boys may be down-toearth, but the women have been elevated to goddesses. Dream girls out, divas in. “The college girl look is gone,” says fashion designer Surily Goel, “now, it’s about the diva look.” The movie Fashion is cited as a style evolution in Indian cinema and Priyanka Chopra’s current status as ‘it’ girl in Bollywood may be due to her ‘look’ in the film. “You need to work a lot on your look to suit the film. It should be fashionable and not tacky. A more polished, clean look is in today in Bollywood,” she adds. Chopra agrees that this is probably because reel life is finally taking cues from real life, and “movies have become much more realistic these days”.
Along with the hammy acting, out goes the glycerine, the false eyelashes, the pancake makeup. Subtlety is the name of the game. “It’s much more modern, more contemporary,” says fashionista Rita Dhody, “It is a very classic and chic look that is in.” More Paris than An Evening in Paris.
Bipasha Basu, voted sexiest Asian woman, believes it is her “womanly charm that makes me stand out in a crowd. I know that ‘sex appeal’ is my USP, but I try and emphasise a certain maturity because today a lot of women-oriented movies are being made. Everyone is shedding the teeny-bopper look and opting for a more sophisticated one. Worldwide, Britney Spears has been replaced by the thinking woman”.
Boy-next-door meets diva-onpedestal seems to be this year’s script. As always in Bollywood, it’s a match made among the stars.
"As actors, we all want our audience to like our work; so even if you ask me this question after five years I will say yes I want to work harder and harder to be loved by my audience."
~ Imran Khan
