Feature: The Revamped Vamps In Bollywood

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June 2, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): The sky high heels, the loud make up and even louder the clothes, the gory vamps weren’t hard to spot in the Bollywood movies. The main motive of the vamp was to make the life of the ‘innocent’ female leads a living hell and steal their love.

But as the Bollywood dynamics are changing, the so called clichés and stereotypes, which we were used to watch, are fading away. The presence of a female antagonist in the Indian cinema had become a must. From the sexy seductive dance to strutting around in the raunchy clothes, they did it all. The bad girls always made more news than the quintessential Bollywood leading lady.

The on screen vamp has undergone a drastic change, ever since the trend started. But yes, they still retain the same oomph factor, but none have remained constant, like it used to be, may be because of the “I don’t want to be typecast” wave.

Helen carried out the role of the temptress perfectly in the 60’s and the 70’s. Then of course, there was the iconic Bindu, Kalpana Iyer and Aruna Irani. The puffed up hair, the cat like eyeliner and in the most cases a lit cancer stick, along with the bright backless blouses and the sexy dresses, it wasn’t hard to share a love-hate relationship with these ladies.

The influx of the generation next brought along a whole new set of divas, the “sexy-but-not-so-sexy” were replaced by the Versace wearing minimally clad bad girl, who pretty much did the same thing like her previous counterpart, but most of them faded away, just like their weight.

Priyanka Chopra seduced and trapped Akshay Kumar with her vixen like charm in the movie Aitraz, she has now graduated to do the love struck damsel as the leading lady. Not long ago, Kajol also experimented with a negative role in the movie Gupt. The age of twist rushed in, which meant good girls turned bad, Katrina Kaif in Blue, Dia Mirza in Acid Factory and Urmila Matondkar have also done that.

Hate them for their boldness or outright bitchy attitude but you certainly can’t ignore the fact that they add the much needed spice to a film; they scheme and manipulate their way to snatch the hero and the audiences’ heart, and manage to look good even while committing a sin.

The population of these vicious vamps might have declined, but the Bollywood needs more of them and the permanent ones, if possible from the Bindu and Helen Era, with sexy cabaret numbers. Is someone listening? We need revival!

-Sampurn Wire