Will Aamir Khan's almost nude poster see a protest?

Aamir Khan has shed his inhibitions and with it his clothes for Rajkumar Hirani's P.K. The just released poster of the movie shows a nude Aamir hiding his unmentionables with just a boombox in hand. The well-heeled Bollywood brigade has already starting tweeting their high praise for Aamir's 'brave' poster. Brave because Aamir has ventured into this naked territory for the first time in his life. Brave again because no superstar would dare to do something radically different and controversy prone after attaining superstardom. While we laud Aamir for stepping out of his comfort zone (and clothes) for PK, we are far more intrigued at the reaction from Bollywood and Indian society in particular. Had it been an actress posing nude, the moral brigade would have already been out in arms protesting the unimaginable dare-bare. Mamta Kulkarni famously faced vociferous protests when she appeared topless on the cover of a film glossy with her hands covering her bare breasts. Poonam Pandey, Rakhi Sawant and many others have often been shunned for shedding their clothes. Poonam was infact famously not allowed to strip after she issued proclamation of doing so post India's world cup win. For ages, female nudity in Indian cinema have remained a matter of concern and controversy. However, the patriarchal norms of our society allow men to strip with glee. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Rajkummar Rao, Aditya Pancholi have gone nude for their roles without any stink being raised. John Abraham famously showed off his rear in Dostana but everyone seemed to have loved it. But ask a girl to strip onscreen and you can be rest assured that the movie will almost never see the light of the day. Avers noted trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Actually it is not the hypocrisy of Bollywood. It is our society. We have different rules for girls and guys. So that comes into play even when it is about Bollywood films or posters. That's how our society functions." Komal, however feels even among men only Aamir could have done something like this with class and hence there is nothing to protest about. "Only Aamir could have carried it off. Nobody thinks it is vulgar. It's fabulous and has achieved the purpose of raising curiosity. People are dying to know what the film is all about." Well, we wonder if other female superstars of Bollywood would ever dare to do an Aamir Khan in future.