Psst … want to see Richard Gere hanging loose?

Nudity on Zee MGM has just moved out of its pixelated covering into the open, and audiences have taken notice. The channel’s reach may not rival that of HBO or Star Movies, but viewership has been picking up, according to the Television Audience Measurement rating.

The channel isn’t letting it all hang loose just for insomniacs. Breathless was screened on March 15 at 1.30 pm, when it had an urban audience of 1,87,000 — at the age of four years and above. That figure jumped to 3,93,000 between 2 and 2.30 pm.

Business head of Zee English and Zee MGM, Ashwini Yardi, rejects that nudity appears without pixelation during the day, ‘‘if at all the movies have any objectionable scenes’’.

On dropping the flimsy blur in the night, Yardi comments: ‘‘There have been broad guidelines by the Indian Broadcasting Federation and we are following the same.’’ The Cable Television Network (Regulatory) Act 2000 says (Clause 6, sub-clause K) no programme should ‘‘denigrate women by depicting their body or form in an indecent manner’’.

Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh says: ‘‘It should be in the right time slot. Channel Four that airs abroad (in the UK) is an explicit channel, but shows these films at night, with a warning that describes the scenes.’’

Zee MGM manages to secure films that aren’t the mainstay of other movie channels. It’s aired Woody Allen and Alfred Hitchcock packages, as well as films like Traffic, Run Lola Run, Rainman, Dead Man Walking and Silence Of The Lambs.

Breathless starring Gere is a diluted tribute to Jean-Luc Godard’s movie of the same name. However, movies like Wild Orchid, Blame It On Rio, and Monkey Shine have also crept in — the channel says these films have stars like Mickey Rourke and Jacqueline Bisset.

The channel reveals it has a new roster of films that will air in April and within the next six months. With a list that includes Chicago, Serendipity, Gangs Of New York, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Heartbreakers and er… Full Frontal (directed by Steven Soderberg), maybe it’s time for a rehaul of its contents.