Bollywood boulevard

Malaika8217;s swan song is a sensuous bar dance in Kaante, one that was supervised by the choreographer of the Mariah Carey film, Glitter. ...

WANTED: A new 8216;8216;item8217;8217; girl for Bollywood. And quick! Filmmakers will soon be running around looking for a replacement to oomph babes Malaika Arora and Kashmira Shah who, until now, have dominated the countdown shows with their hit song appearances in masala potboilers. Malaika Arora of those curvaceous hips, who has jiggled her way into people8217;s hearts with such memorable dances like Chaiyya chaiyya from Dil Se will be out of circulation for some months to come. The model, as you ought to know, is pregnant. Busty bombshell Kashmira Shah, meanwhile, who has a bunch of smashing song numbers like Patli kamar from Jungle, and more recently Chalka chalka from Aankhen, is away in the US where she8217;s looking for work in Hollywood films.

Malaika8217;s swan song is a sensuous bar dance in Kaante, one that was supervised by the choreographer of the Mariah Carey film, Glitter. And you will see at least a handful of songs featuring Kashmira in forthcoming films, assignments she8217;d completed before she took off to the West.

Even as the two ladies are sorely missed by faithful filmmakers who8217;ve regularly used them in their films to encash on their popularity with frontbenchers, a fresh batch of replacements is the need of the hour. Isha Koppikar looks ripe to take their place, if her Khallas song from Company is any indication. But she8217;s more keen to do 8216;8216;meaty roles8217;8217; than make those sing-song appearances. One look at buxom Bipasha Basu in that song from Aankhen and you know that she could easily have the audience eating out of her hands. But alas, she8217;s charging fifty lakhs, and wants leads in plum projects.

One could go back to the Urmila Matondkars, the Sonali Bendres and the Raveena Tandons. But, to put it politely, they8217;re yesterday8217;s news. Even Sushmita Sen is too over-exposed. With Dilbar from Sirf Tum and Mast mahaul from Fiza, she8217;s set a certain standard, which perhaps she herself can8217;t match again.

So let8217;s lay down the requirements and see who shows up. She must be dusky, busty and lusty. She must be willing to dress up in little nothings. She must be nimble-footed. She must be prepared to put up with unusual requests: Get on top of a train, jump into a tank of beer, heave your booty in the face of a drooling bad-guy8230; you get the drift.