BODY TALK: Rani Mukherjee’s slick new look in Dil Bole Hadippa; the controversial poster of Kurbaan and Aamir Khan sports a muscled torso in Ghajini

The back was so stunning — and bare — that the Shiv Sena felt it needed to lodge a protest. Bal Thackeray’s boys ripped up posters of last week’s Bollywood release Kurbaan because they showed Kareena Kapoor flaunting her back and Saif Ali Khan displaying a chiselled torso. The posters conveyed little about the film — but ended up whetting audience interest in the new release.

Bollywood, it seems, has got a new mantra to sell its films. What started off with six packs and size zero has now gone a mile too long. More and more actors have joined the fitness brigade to sell their films. Rani Mukherjee’s Dil Bole Hadippa, released two months ago, sank without a trace at the box office — but it made much noise about the actress losing 8 kg for the film.

If some actors wax eloquent about their weight loss, some even pile on weight to make an impact. These days, the first reports to do the rounds about a movie are those that deal with the lead stars’ looks (read: fitness schedules and diet charts). The industry has now woken up to a new set of technical people — dieticians, fitness trainers and stylists — whose importance is vouched for by the stars.

Take the 2008 release Tashan. The movie may have been a box office disaster but the nation went into a frenzy over Kareena “size zero” Kapoor. It gave her dietician Rujuta Diwekar reason aplenty to publish a book on losing weight. “My association with Kareena sparked people’s interest in the book,” admits Diwekar.

Aamir Khan’s last release Ghajini became synonymous with his eight-pack abs. The hugely successful movie went a step ahead and tied up with a satellite television operator to telecast Aamir’s gruelling workout schedules with his personal trainer. Farah Khan marketed her film Om Shanti Om highlighting Shah Rukh Khan’s six-pack abs in the film’s promos.

There was a time when an actor put on weight — or on occasion dropped it — and nobody cared. But if Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra and Sridevi seldom bothered about changing their looks, today’s leading stars are happy to shed monotony along with the kilos.

“The audience is spoilt for choice and you need to do justice to your character to sell a movie,” says Vikas Bahl, chief creative officer, UTV Motion Pictures, Mumbai.

Actress Minissha Lamba, who shed weight for Kidnap, agrees. “Your performance is constantly being judged,” she says. And the right look, clearly, is a part of the performance. Lamba, for instance, went on a strict diet and exercise routine to flaunt a bikini in the 2008 film.

Indeed, actors are willing to put in some extra effort to lend credibility to their roles. Abhishekh Bachchan added a few kilos to develop a paunch and a heavy look for his character in Mani Ratnam’s Guru, which was loosely based on the life of industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani. Kareena was asked to put on weight for her role as a medical student in Rajkumar Hirani’s much-awaited Aamir-starrer 3 Idiots. Ranvir Shorey added 15 kg to his lean frame to get into his character in Rajat Kapoor’s new film Fatso. “My weight has lent a natural look to the character,” says Shorey.

There are good reasons for stars to push the envelope. “For a newcomer a fit body is a sure shot way of gaining attention and for an established star it is about setting new benchmarks for himself,” says Satyajit Chaurasia, owner, Barbarian Gym, Mumbai, and personal trainer to celebrities such as Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgan, Esha Deol and Rani Mukherjee.

Personal trainers, stylists and dieticians feel that the industry has finally recognised the need for trained professionals to create a buzz with the audience. Diwekar attributes Bollywood’s growing global recognition to this changing attitude. Chaurasia was approached by Yash Raj Productions for Rani’s look in Dil Bole Hadippa and by the makers of Ghajini for Aamir’s physique.

Actors too are leaving no stone unturned to reinvent themselves periodically. “In this competitive environment, it’s the actor who is more worried about his or her looks than the director,” says Lamba. Fitness trainers say many of the top stars are fitness freaks. “Established stars know they have to be fit to maintain their success,” says Sandeep Sachdev, celebrity fitness trainer and personal trainer ambassador with the gym Fitness First in Mumbai.

To be sure, the new bods fuel interest in a film — and end up gathering eyeballs on the first day of release. “Anything that creates a buzz about the movie — be it a location, a star’s physique or the sets — becomes the talking point. It becomes one of the highlights of the movie,” says Jehil Thakkar, executive director of the media and entertainment division of consultancy firm KPMG in Mumbai.

But the new looks have their pitfalls too. Shorey, after he’d put on 15 kg, was asked to get back into shape in six months for his next film. “Putting on so much weight led to health problems such as high blood pressure. Then losing weight was another struggle,” he says. Aamir had to shed his heavy look of Ghajini for a leaner image in 3 Idiots. “Everyone understands the occupational hazards of this profession and the smart ones find sensible ways of using their body to their advantage without ever abusing it,” says Diwekar.

While it’s one thing for actors to build and lose muscles, the flipside is their growing effect on youngsters. Delhi-based psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh warns people against getting swayed by looks. “In the last year, I saw 1,000 per cent more cases of youngsters who were pre-occupied with their looks than what I’d seen in the previous 10 years,” says Dr Chugh. “It’s a worrying trend.”

Not that the actors are worried. As far as they are concerned, a new look is a good look.