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A POPULAR actress has been pelted with sandals, tomatoes and rotten eggs for telling Indian men not to expect their brides to be virgins any more.

Khushboo, 35, has also been hauled before a court, banned from making any further public comments or giving interviews and released on bail of £60.

She is due back in court in a little over two weeks, although it remains unclear whether she has broken any law. ...

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It was such a bizarre experience. I barely understood a word of the film, but the sexual overtones were impossible to miss - the female lead was amply endowed and scantily clad in a very 'Western' sort of way, provoking catcalls of sorts. The musical numbers with the male lead dripped of sex in a way I hadn't seen the rest of my time in India, but they elicited great cheers from the audience. Plus, the theatre was full of middle-class families, children and teens included.

Having had such an experience, I guess I'm a little surprised that a statement like this from a film star evoked such a response. It seems to me that Indian culture is changing rapidly, especially in the cities, and that perhaps there is probably a good deal of support for Khushboo's statement, just not so vocal.

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Originally posted by shaolin:
When I was in Jaipur I went to see the new Bollywood smash-hit. Waiting in line loads of people were begging me to buy them tickets and as fast as transactions could be completed, they were sold out.

It was such a bizarre experience. I barely understood a word of the film, but the sexual overtones were impossible to miss - the female lead was amply endowed and scantily clad in a very 'Western' sort of way, provoking catcalls of sorts. The musical numbers with the male lead dripped of sex in a way I hadn't seen the rest of my time in India, but they elicited great cheers from the audience. Plus, the theatre was full of middle-class families, children and teens included.

Having had such an experience, I guess I'm a little surprised that a statement like this from a film star evoked such a response. It seems to me that Indian culture is changing rapidly, especially in the cities, and that perhaps there is probably a good deal of support for Khushboo's statement, just not so vocal.

Of course, this is all anecdotal and just my opinion.

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Many of India's cities are very politically backwards, judging by how well the BJP does in those areas.

The BJP is a fascist-leading, Hindu chauvinist party with ties to far-right groups such as ShivSena (a political party whose supporters have beaten and murdered homosexuals and Muslims in Mumbai that was in the BJP's right-wing coalition.) and RSS (a Hindu supremacist lobby group) that are even more extreme than Bush's fundamentalist allies.