Aishwarya Rai

The two Kates (Winslet and Moss) have always stood at the opposite sides of the weighing scales. The actress of Titanic fame, if not proportions, endeared herself particularly to Indian audiences because of a subconscious subcontinental fascination for the buxom, bovine leading lady, known as the Southie Thunder Thighs types in the decades gone by. The international model whose paycheques are as fat as her waistline is thin, and who made anorexia, dope and size zero famously famous (years after Twiggy proved that sticks could actually walk the ramp and make astronomical figures of the bank variety).

Of late, and quite suddenly there is a choreographed and orchestrated banning and ostracisation of weed-thin models. Kate Moss’ feelings about this would understandably be, what the narcotics department would call, hazy. But Kate Winslet who valued her chubbiness fiercely, and even after childbirth, insisted that that was the healthy and beautiful way to stay. Admirable because way back even the drop-dead beautiful Audrey Hepburn earned accolades from Time magazine for being “a stick-slim actress with huge, limpid eyes and a heart-shaped face…”

Bipasha Basu

Kate Winslet had stomped all over thin celebrities for “breeding a new generation of anorexics”. Scanning and panning the trend of size zero models, Winslet had fumed: “The majority of the clothes in these runway shows are being worn by people who don't have any flesh on their bones. What the hell is going on? It makes me so mad.”

In more current times, even Twiggy is sitting up and taking notice. Once a synonym for super-skinny models, Twiggy now says she is “terrified” by the new so-called size-zero trend — and she blamed Hollywood actresses roundly. The 60s ramp icon, who earned her nickname (real name: Lesley Hornby) for her waif-like figure, says actresses, not models, are responsible for the growing trend of extreme diets. Hollywood stars such as Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton and of late Keira Knightly have attracted attention for their near-skeletal appearance.

Kate Moss

Her comments came after the death of two young women desperately trying to be size zero models which led to size-zeroes being outlawed. Just the other day, a 21-year-old Brazilian catwalk star Ana Carolina Reston died of anorexia after surviving on a diet of apples and tomatoes. In August, Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos suffered heart failure after reportedly consuming only lettuce and diet drinks. Her death led to the Spanish government barring models with a body mass index of 18 or under — officially classified as underweight — from the Madrid Fashion Week.

Kate Winslet with costar Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic

If Twiggy herself launches into wafer-thin models, the latest is that Kate Winslet, with a plump chance of easily winning a role in Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s middleclass Indian cute boudi roles, has herself dropped three dress sizes — because she was getting paranoid about thin actresses prancing away with all the top Hollywood and British movie roles. Last heard, Winslet who had taken an oath that she would live by her curves had cut all wheat and dairy products from her diet in a bid to lose the pounds. Friends were quoted as having said, “She’s finding it frustrating that slimmer, often less talented girls are getting the big roles.” She was reportedly also feeling pressurised “to look good for her husband, director Sam Mendes”, who has dated a string of beautiful women including Calista Flockhart and Rachel Weisz. Britain’s Grazia magazine had reported: “Sam has always found Kate’s normality a breath of fresh air. But in showbusiness, success isn’t measured by normality. And Sam is ambitious for both himself and Kate. She is absolutely obsessed with Sam and determined to make their marriage work.”

Ameesha Patel

Then look at Renee Zellweger. After gaining 30lb for Bridget Jones’ Diary and losing that said weight, Renee had confessed she’d never do it again. Well, she did for the sequel. Of late Keira Knightly has found the limelight turned on her “curveless figure” and has been out to prove that has what it takes and has begun hanging them all out. One blogger though commenting on her show at a UK premiere had this to say: “Sister there needs a couple of cheese burgers badly. What is it with her, she usually is as pretty as a peach but over here she kind of looks like the skeleton on display in the science lab. That is a skeleton wearing a Gucci dress. And I sigh in dismay at another very bad fake tan.”

Keira Knightly

This side of the Arabian Sea, however, we have had Shabana Azmi famously putting on the kilos for Shyam Benegal’s Mandi. Smita Patil, her arch rival, quickly followed suit somewhere else. Sridevi has been known to switch on and switch off at will, her dance movements, acting, and kilos alike. Before Sridevi, though, Bollywood was always known for the Southie anmol motis (with a hard Hindi ‘t’ in moti) like Padmini and B. Saroka Devi, or the sturdy dancer types like Vyjyanthimala and Jayalalitha. Bombay had its own bevy of voluptuous vamps (think Bindu) and chubby cheeked cuties (don’t have to think further than Mumtaz and Sulakshana Pandit, huggingly known as Mumu and Sulu) or the drop-dead gorgeous Meena Kumari (who if she actually dropped on you, you sure would be dead, unless you were Dharmendra). And, of course, the podgy little mounds of dynamite from Bengal, Raakhee and Moushumi Chatterjee, who were neatly trimmed up against a bikini-flaunting svelte little bundle of RDX, Sharmila Tagore.

Sameera Reddy

But the generations and times have changed; as quickly as fast food and matinee idols are made and consumed, and as rapidly as the footfalls and flop films in the multiplexes notch up or down. With that came the gym thing and fitness fever. And with that, the carromboard chests and dashboard abs. Flab was out, slim (preferably without the ‘s’, ‘’ and ‘m’) was in.

Preity Zinta

Thankfully, the furore on the international ramp and Hollywood big screen, our bovine beauties in Bollywood come in racing with a plump chance again. Bengali babes are no longer betey. They are more, like, Bipasha Basu and Sushmita Sen. If you are missing Kate Winslet in Doobta Jahaaz, there’s at least Sameera Reddy in Kaalpurush and Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s next untitled. The petite Amrita Raos may still be a good ticket to Vivahs, but Rani ki bhi aayegi baraat. And you know what, Aishwarya Rai may have once modelled for a flat screen television set “as flat as my stomach”, but we’ll have more of Preity Zinta to love now, with tailormade roles going to her “at this stage of her life and career”.

And Ameesha Patel? With a short ’’ stocky ‘mass appeal’, Vikram Bhatt will at last be looking at a superhit…