Is skin show today the fastest way to top the popularity charts in Bollywood? Prithwish Ganguly gets the bare-all truth…

Of late in Tinseltown, men and women have equally become game for shedding their clothes at the drop of a hat…or towel, in the case of Ranbir Kapoor. Excluding Salman Khan who has always bared his body (if he wears clothes, now that would be news!) — from Shah Rukh Khan's Dard-e-Disco, John Abraham's butt-bare in Dostana to Aamir Khan flaunting his eight-pack in Ghajini. Men, it seems, are dishing themselves out to the audiences like lollies. Women too are not far behind. From Kareena Kapoor's sizzling bikini bod in Tashan, Mallika Sherawat's eye-popping curves on view in almost all her films, Minissha Lamba's oomphy act in Kidnap and Malaika Arora's classy-yet-seductive dance numbers — almost everyone in Bollywood seems to be in the mood to get dare-bare. Is it because this gets them more instant popularity? We quizzed some industry beauties for the naked truth…

Koena Mitra, actor: It is very unfortunate that people criticise and debate when an actor or an actress shed their clothes. Because let me ask you something — can our film-makers make a movie without any eye-candy? There are fantastic actors but in terms of popularity, they are definitely less popular than those who have done skin show. They grab more eyeballs. Skin show is part of a chain. People want to see them, film-makers want to give audiences what they want to see and actors who are confident about their skin think it is okay to do it. But for me, I would never do something like wear a bikini or do a bed scene if I'm not convinced that it is needed in the script.

Riya Sen, actor: I just wonder why everyone makes such a hoo-ha about these things, when all they're doing is really running from hall to hall to watch all kinds of films — be it sex or comedies. And honestly, who doesn't show skin nowadays?

Malaika Arora Khan,

model: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and it is a very subjective thing. It might be good for someone, and it might be bad for someone (showing skin to get the limelight). But I'm totally against any sort of moral policing.