Kareena Kapoor size zero: hot or not?

Published on Sat, May 03, 2008 at 11:09, Updated at Sat, May 03, 2008 in Lifestyle section

A white shirt with jeans and boots (or any other footwear) is one of the never-fail, anytime, anywhere outfit that any woman, irrespective of her body size can safely wear.

From cocktail parties, the beach, a college reunion or out clubbing, jeans and a white shirt will never let a woman down. The outfit perhaps is also the saving grace of Kareena Kapoor's super-thin avatar in her latest dud, Tashan.

From an actress who looked positively thick in the Don item song—her thunder thighs could have given south Indian actress Rambha a run for her money—to someone who perhaps needs special camera angles to find curves, Kareena has changed. But is it for the better? One look at the Tashan poster with all four characters 'ishtylishly' strutting and two things stood out: One, Kareena is holding the assault rifle somewhat awkwardly and two, you can see her ribs.

If one were to choose a personal Kareena favourite in so far as her 'look' is concerned, it would have to be Yuva. In flowing skirts, peasant blouses, flip-flops and with her eyes thickly kohl-lined, Kareena looked beautiful. She didn't have her current chiseled cheekbones either—first seen on the cover of Maxim—but looked radiant. Even in a simple salwar kameez, with a single plait and kajal, she looked perfect as Dolly Mishra in Omkara. Somehow, simplicity suits Kareena much more than 'tashan'.

Consider her glamour doll avatars, whether as the always-wears-glitter Poo in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham or as the navel-showing, tattooed Kaurwaki in Asoka, Kareena was never thin, always pretty. In Hulchul or the horrendous Yaadein, she is positively cherubic but manages to woo the audience with a freshness to her looks. Her chubbiness made her endearing. Now, despite it being touted as oh-so-hot, her waif thin avatar leaves something to be desired... There's a certain meatiness that is missing.

It's ironic that Kareena's Tashan look is being lauded by some since it was the same body type that got once-upon-a-time newcomer Amrita Arora to be called "too think for a Bollywood actress." Bollywood's double standards or simply a marketing ploy to sell Kareena's new looks? And is the viewer buying the new look?

The Indian audience, male and female, has preferred its women with meat on their bones. One look at the list of yesteryear heroines and the only name that pops up as 'thin' is Saira Banu. But she never reached the popularity levels of a Mumtaz (slim but never skinny) or even an Asha Parekh (by no means slim and rather bottom-heavy).

Even actresses later in the day, be it Rekha, Sridevi, Jaya Prada and Madhuri Dixit were well-proportioned. Think Kimi Katkar and you'd know that even most 'sex symbols' were more on the healthier side than on the skinny.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare Kareena's current looks to those of the yesteryear heroines; times have changed and so perhaps have priorities. But has the allure of a well-endowed chest and a curvaceous butt changed as well? Afraid not and a check on Kareena competitors will tell you so. Whether it's Katrina Kaif—who recently made an appearance for an IPL match and looked beautiful in jeans and a loose IPL tee shirt—or other actresses like Vidya Balan, Bipasha Basu or even Aiswarya Rai, none of them are skinny and yet all a 'wholesome' figure.

A look at the international figure scenario and you'd realise that waif-thin figures of either a Victoria 'Posh Spice' Beckham or once-popular Calista 'Ally McBeal' Flockhart have never won popularity votes.

The full-figured Scarlet Johannson and Angelina Jolie though always score high on having desirable body frames. Recently too, tennis's favourite poster girl Anna Kournikova made headlines for having lost her curves. To Kareena's credit, she has been something of a style icon and it would perhaps be sensible of her to take check in with her audience and see what they have to say. Initial reactions say her new look is more style, less substance!