The essential ingredient!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">There was a time when adult movies were few and far between. It was only B-grade producers who dared to show some skin in their flicks. But it''s official now, as sex and sleaze become the mantra to set the box office ablaze. A slew of soon-to-be-released movies are trying to cash on the ''show''. Not long ago there was Pooja Bhatt''s Rog, and now we have Fun, Sheesha, Chahat Ek Nasha and Bewafa.But why would A- grade film-makers need to make films on skin-show and sex?<br /><br />Veena Bakshi, director says, "I personally think, it is a shortage of original ideas that has fuelled this trend. Film-makers are copying western films. Sex sells internationally and Indian film-makers are finding that out. Unfortunately in India we don''t know how to portray it well, so that it doesn''t look obscene. Though western movies are full of sex they always have a story to go with it."<br /><br />Also, as Indians are a sexually deprived lot, such movies draw the crowds, prompting market-savvy film-makers to dish out more similar stuff. <br /><br />But at the end of the day, how much skin and sex can people watch? Just like one can''t eat too much mithai, one can''t watch too much sex either. People will soon tire of it. Ultimately these movies are like sugar-coated tablets, using sex to cover up the lack of a good script, feel film-makers.<br /><br />"Both film-makers and the audience are to blame. Film-makers say they make such movies because the aam janta likes to watch them while the junta says this is what they are getting and so are forced to watch it. It''s a vicious cycle and nobody knows who really calls the shots," says Bakshi.<br /><br />Executive Producer Prabhuraj puts the trend down to commercial demands. Says he, "Such films give assured returns. They are sure to catch media attention too, generating curiosity among the people, which leads them to theatres. Even big banners and film-makers like Mahesh Bhatt and Pahlaj Nihalani are picking up this trend. Mahesh Bhatt who began with films like Saransh and Arth went on to make Murder, Paap and Rog." Also these films can be made in small budgets, just Rs 25 lakhs to one crore, because they are normally made with new-comers. Adds Prabhuraj, "Though sex seems to be working at the box office, it doesn''t have a future."<br /><br />What does the aam janta think about this trend? "As a society we are becoming more open and people are taking such scenes in their stride. Even in-your-face sexual scenes don''t shock anyone any more," says Siddhi Sharma, a college student.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">pallavi.kharade@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>