Most controversial photoshoots of Bollywood

Mamta Kulkarni on the cover of Stardust:


She was the reigning sex symbol of the 1990’s who became the talk of the town and gained popularity when she appeared on the cover of Stardust film magazine with her arms across her breasts in the September issue of 1993. While the film magazine was lapped up like hot cakes, the actress had to face legal action from the Indian court of law apart from the pressure that was put by various moral police groups.

But Mamta wasn’t one who was going to take anything lying down. She gave as good as she got and called everyone concerned a hypocrite. Finally Mamta Kulkarni had to shell out Rs 15000 after she was convicted in July 2000. Till today her picture on the covers has been treated as one of the most sensational things to have happened in the Indian film industry.

Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre in Tuff ad campaign:





This was the first time that model Madhu Sapre posed nude but it wasn’t something new for supermodel Milind Soman who had taken off his clothes in front of the camera a few times before the Tuff shoe ad campaign in July 1995. With only a thick skinned python separating their bare bodies, Milind and Madhu who happened to be dating during that period had no issues getting close for comfort.



It didn’t take long for the ad to fall into deep trouble and with the Shiv Sena protesting loud and hard the court was forced to ban the ad campaign on the whole. The posters and hoardings of the ad too were not spared and were all taken down. It certainly wasn’t a happy ending for Milind and Madhu Sapre.

Pooja Bhatt spray paints body and smooches Mahesh Bhatt:





Demi Moore was the original diva from Hollywood who painted herself nude to appear on a magazine cover. And then our very own Pooja Bhatt got inspired by Moore and compromised herself and her body to allow herself to be spray-painted for a similar look and get-up for an Indian magazine. The only glaring difference being that unlike Demi Moore, Pooja Bhatt wasn’t nine months pregnant. The whole act was possible after Pooja sat through four hours of spray painting.



Not only did Pooja create a stir with her bare body painting, she also shocked one and all when she smooched her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt for a magazine cover. Pooja Bhatt rewrote the relationship between a father and a daughter in that one moment between the two of them.

Mallika Sherawat in Kis Kis Ki Kismat:



Controversy has forever dogged Mallika Sherawat wherever she went. Be it for her acts in films (kissing Himanshu Malik 17 times in Khwahish or getting cozy with Emraan Hashmi in Murder ) or for her publicity stunts that she so effectively executes during the release of her films. Kis Kis Ki Kismat was no different except that it was a photograph that caused such uproar in Bollywood.



Wearing a bright red dress that hits you right in the eye, Mallika was so engrossed during the photo-shoot that the actress did not notice that her white panties were being filmed at the same time. Whether it was something that happened by chance or whether Mallika had strategically done it to garner publicity for the film by recreating a Marilyn Monroe pose, we’ll never know but she surely did a good job of it.

Shilpa Shetty & Reema Sen’s obscene pictures:



At times controversies come uncalled for or perhaps when you are expecting the least. That happened to actresses Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen who were blamed of corrupting young minds when some of their pictures appeared in ‘Tamil Murasu’, a regional newspaper. While the pictures were quite passable considering Bollywood standards of recent times, an advocate from South alleged that the paper included obscene photographs of the two actresses which were apparently ‘sexy blow ups’ and ‘mediocre posters’ in their own right. Although the photographs were printed in the newspaper last December and January, the petitioner claimed that the content contained violent and harmful material not suitable for readers.



Both Shilpa and Reema did not give the trivial issue undue importance and let time take its own course. This one was passed off as a case where the accuser tried to create a controversy and gain some publicity for himself.

Mandira Bedi flagged:



Mandira Bedi always came across as a cricket crazy fan but this time she took her frenzy for the game a bit too far when she hosted a cricket show during the 2006 cricket World Cup wearing a sari that sported the Indian in the wrong way. Our country has now made it legal to wear the Indian flag on any clothing but much to Mandira’s dismay the flag on her sari was below the waist. In fact it was very close to her feet which is what infuriated fans and officials alike.



Mandira has courted controversies earlier too when once she depicted a religious tattoo and then on another occasion the television anchor wore a sari that showed ample cleavage. What made this offence even more sad was that Mandira Bedi had the flag of Pakistan on her bare right shoulder.