Fifteen minutes of shame

Average looking, barely talented nobodies make hay with shame selling as much as fame

Andy Warhol famously predicted in 1968 that in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. His prescient observation rings true even 44 years later, when, thanks to the electronic and print media, we have freshly minted celebrities invading our consciousness daily. These days it has become virtually impossible to open a newspaper or surf the internet and not be confronted by some publicity hungry desperado anxious to be in the limelight.

Sex sells. And how. Average looking, barely talented nobodies, who had little chance of making it as successful models and actors, have catapulted to fame thanks to their willingness to bare their bodies while shooting their mouths off. As a nation we have gaped in consternation as Rakhi Sawant, Malika Sherawat, Sherlyn Chopra, Veena Malik, Poonam Pandey and a gaggle of other brazen bimbos have become bona fide celebrities overnight. We may snigger and snipe at their shenanigans but it is these gutsy gals who have forged a career and a name for themselves by flaunting their surgically enhanced assets in our faces with impunity. These squawking starlets may represent the dregs of the wannabe somebodies but a slew of Bollywood actresses have also gone under the scalpel to augment their breasts and other parts of their anatomy. The only difference is that they don't shout from the rooftops in order to get noticed. Instead, they hire a PR firm to do the dirty work for them. Some make news by featuring on the cover of fashion magazines and others grab attention by baring it all in glossies like Playboy. Whilst Sherlyn Chopra scandalises India by releasing pictures of herself frolicking in the nude, Sunny Leone, a full-fledged adult film actress, makes her Bollywood debut in a Mahesh Bhatt production. In both cases, a blatant show of jism ensures eyeballs. And thus, a star is "porn".

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