Bollywood has always had its share of controversies with film posters and other events showing our dear celebs in bad light, whether it was appearing nude on magazine covers or doing naughty ad campaigns. Indiatimes Movies looks back at a few moments in the past where actors took things too far...



Pooja Bedi in Kamasutra ad:



Speaking about sex and condoms was a strict no no in India during the 80’s and 90’s. And it was to Pooja Bedi and Marc Robinson’s credit that the Kamasutra ad for coloured condoms brought about an awareness that was lacking in India then, though it shocked the nation and created all the possible controversies and troubles. The campaign that the two came together saw an intensely intimate sequence taking place between two of the hottest models around the circuit at that point of time. Marc Robinson was already a supermodel beginning to make waves internationally too and Pooja Bedi (daughter of Kabir Bedi and Protima Bedi) was looking to succeed and make a mark for herself. Gauging by the excitement the condom ad created, Pooja surely left an indelible mark.


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’s body painting:





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 but hopefully she feels it worth the effort.



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 coloured 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, we’ll never know but she surely did a good job of it.


Neha Dhupia goes backless in Julie







he photograph itself seems to be suggesting that Neha Dhupia wasn’t entirely comfortable posing for the movie poster. But she had no choice as Neha had already signed a contract with director of Julie, Deepak Shivdasani and producer Bablu Pachisia which stated that Neha would in no way have any kind of objection to posing in skimpy shootings for the promotion and the shooting of the movie. The director-producer duo took this step after they witnessed Shashilal K Nair’s film Ek Chotisi Love Story falling into trouble after lead actress Manisha Koirala accused Nair of using a body double for a few nude shots in the film.



But Neha Dhupia seemed to have no problems signing on the dotted line for Julie and to give this exotic shot as well.


Neha Dhupia’s poster in film Utthan:



Neha Dhupia has done bold films and bolder scenes in those films as well but Neha may never have prepared herself for what befell her while filming the now unknown movie Utthan which was to be produced by acclaimed playback singer Kumar Sanu. The film had Neha Dhupia and her Julie co-star Priyanshu Chatterjee in lead roles but what was disturbing were the posters of the film which saw Neha exposing much more flesh than what was necessary.



Neha later distanced herself from the film and its publicity that was more than understandable. The film today has been lost in pages of Bollywood and the controversy surrounding Neha Dhupia has been long forgotten.



Shamita Shetty sans underwear





Shamita, the little sister of Shilpa Shetty, has always lived under her sister’s shadow until her picture was splashed all over the media for all the wrong reasons. In an event organized by the Bhatts in Mumbai she was clicked by the paparazzi in a wrong pose. Was this her ‘Basic Instinct’?



The photograph in itself speaks so many things that we find ourselves at a loss of words to describe. But she did give the shutterbugs at the event a lot to look forward to as well as to click.