Another one bites the dust

ZINIA SEN & ROSHNI MUKHERJEE / TNN / May 23, 2006, 22:32 IST

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Girls lean back everywhere. The power of ‘art' to offend and alarm seems to be as great as ever.

Girls lean back everywhere. The power of ��art' to offend and alarm seems to be as great as ever.
Repeated trials on Rakhi Sawant's cell evoked the 'number not reachable' response. Finally, bull's eye. A brief introduction and the purpose of the call later, a lady took the call and explained why Rakhi was not answering the phone.
"Everybody is harassing her after the Kolhapur incident.So, she has left this mobile with me. Call up later and she will give the interview," the lady revealed.
For those still uninitiated, the Shahupuri police had filed a case against Rakhi and the organiser of a brand promotional show under Sections 110, 112, 117 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951.

She had performed at the event organised by a liquor company at a playground near the Central bus stand in Kolhapur.
According to recent reports, she has been let off with a warning as it was a non-cognisable offence.
If you remember correctly, a few days ago a similar incident had hit headlines. This time the axe of obscenity had fallen on actors Reemma Sen and Shilpa Shetty.
The question that comes to the fore is who should decide what is obscene and what is not? How much does the "image" factor count in such cases?...

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Wondering why she has to bear the brunt of public ire, Rakhi reacts, "Maybe the problem was with Kolhapur. I always wear the same kind of clothes for all my shows.
I was wearing my usual jacket and miniskirt. Main wahan pe nude dance nahi kar rahi thi. People should understand, they are inviting an item girl because they want to see a bombastic performance.
If they intended to have a puja, why didn't they invite Jagjit Singh or Anup Jalota?" When nudged further, she asserted, "People keep criticising Mallika Sherawat and bechari she has started covering herself.
Lekin main ek Marathi ladki hoon aur wohi karke chhorungi jo mujhe sahi lagta hai. All said and done, there's nothing to assume that I'm angry with the people of Kolhapur."
Rakhi signs off saying that she is getting negative publicity for sure but even if there's no publicity involved, she'll still do what she wants to.
Dekh le girl Mumait Khan, says, "The journos enlightened me of the incident. My first thought was, 'Not Rakhi, again'!" Mumait gives a filler, "I know Rakhi very well. She always wears skin coloured inners while performing."
Agreeing with Mumait is Reemma Sen. "Rakhi is not a Kareena, or a Priyanka. When one invites her for a show, one definitely expects a certain kind of performance.
So why blame her?" she says. Ask her who's to decide what constitutes obscenity, the actor is quick to quip, "Obscenity is a subjective concept...
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For some revealing five inches of cleavage might not seem obscene, while for some, a little teasing might make all the difference."
Talk about 'depth'! But Reemma does spell a word of caution. "Still I feel if you are in Rome, do as the Romans do." Tannistha Chatterjee feels, "No one can draw the line as to what is provocative."
Shedding light on the item number concept she says, "An item number can be a comment or a politically wrong statement. It is difficult to demarcate such things sans a context.
But I agree that when you are performing in public, there is a direct co-relation. You must then dress not for oneself but for the audience. Herein comes the responsibility factor."
It is clear then that the beauty and the beast must go hand in hand. Small wonder then that celebs prefer to go by the apun ka choice formula and being the judge of what's best for them.

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