NEW DELHI: The controversial nude photo shoot with American adult magazine Playboy that will have Indian model Sherlyn Chopra on the cover is to be released “soon,” a report in local press, citing Chopra's team said this week. The nude shoot has led to much controversy for the Indian starlet and has seen a discussion over sex and the image of women in the South Asian country as the rise in sexual violence persists. “Imagine my name being taken in the same breath as Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Doing the photo shoot was one of the most intelligent decisions I made. I have no regrets and I'm hoping for it to pave way for international assignments," said Chopra. “But the one thing I learnt is that nanga hokar photo shoot karna azaadi nahi hai. Actual azaadi soch main honi chahiye. There should be complete freedom of thought for a progressive society. But people's hypocritical attitude mars that," the actress added. However, no specific date has yet to be established. The cover shoot was supposed to have been the November 2012 cover, but was delayed. She has also gone nude for film, Kamasutra, which sparked massive anger in the country over the role of women and their bodies. “It is disgusting that she wants everyone to see her naked body and using sex to have a career," Reeta, a 34-year-old mother of two, told Bikyanews.com. “I find it hard to talk about empowerment when she does this." Moments after the video was uploaded, it went viral and has had more than a lakh visitors in the past three days. There were 30,000 views within 24 hours. Directed by Rupesh Paul, ‘Kamasutra 3D' will star Chopra in the lead. The announcement of the film was made in 2012 at the prestigious Cannes film festival. An Indo-US production, the film is based on Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra, the sacred Indian sex manual. Some of her fans commented that she looked sensual and not vulgar in the video. Chopra's cover shoot with American adult magazine Playboy should be heading to the stands soon, and will likely spark frustration over the use of women's bodies in the country. For many, including book sellers in the Indian capital, Chopra is a huge pull, with expectations that her cover shoot for Playboy will bring in the rupees. “These magazines are usually gone within the first few hours when we them out," the shopkeeper told Bikyanews.com. “It is crazy on the days they are released. Men just grab them and start flipping through." For this man, who says the bulk of his earnings come from magazines that sell sex and nudity, the upcoming Playboy magazine – although officially banned in India – will feature the first Indian on the cover and is certain to be a massive hit. “We are looking to have twice as many, but that is if we can get them," he said. With Indian women's rights activists lamenting the sexualization of women in the country, they fear the backlash from Chopra's nude shoot with the American adult magazine. Although they grant Chopra the right to do what she wants with her body, show it off to whomever, including the world, they argue it could be a negative for the country, hit by a massive number of sexual violence toward women in recent months. Chopra released the photos in a series of tweets on her personal Twitter account last month. They were nude photos and almost immediately went viral across India, with men and women wanting a glimpse of their first cover girl. The nude shoot has sparked anger among women's rights advocates in the country, saying that India has already “sexualized" women and the nude shoot will only “heighten the stereotypes." Sunita Gudnanti, a social worker who works with battered women in Delhi, told Bikyanews.com that she is disappointed in Chopra's decision to do the photo shoot. “I have heard so many stories of women being beaten up by their spouses or boyfriends because they refused to do something the man read or saw online, so the idea that an Indian woman will go nude for the magazine is likely to sexualize the issue of women's rights and heighten the stereotypes that women are objects," she said. The Indian woman has reportedly also taken up shop in Playboy owner Hugh Hefner's mansion. Chopra is the first Indian to grace the cover of the magazine. She said the shoot will be “explicit," which Gudnanti argues will be a negative for Indian society. “We deal with sexual violence towards women on a daily basis here and one of the reasons for this explosion, we believe, is that the media has sexualized and made women objects," she argued. “Look at Times of India's website and others, it is full of articles about women and sex, their bodies and images of naked or little clothed women. It is very sad," she added. Speaking to Times of India from the US during the shoot, Chopra said she felt “proud to be the first Indian to do it," and added, “The youth is racing towards liberalization, and that's why being unconventional in your choices is no longer a taboo." BN
