India’s relationship with trend has all the time walked a tightrope between custom and rebel. Every now and then, an editorial comes alongside that doesn’t simply problem the established order, it smashes it.
These daring trend editorials, although controversial on the time, have performed an enormous function in shaping public discourse round identification, freedom, and self-expression in Indian popular culture.
Let’s revisit among the most unforgettable covers and campaigns that dared to impress and made historical past within the course of.
Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre for Tuff sneakers
Again within the early ’90s, when Indian promoting was nonetheless taking part in it protected, a single {photograph} turned every part the wrong way up. Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre, two of India’s high fashions, posed nude for a Tuff sneakers marketing campaign, sporting nothing however the sneakers and a strategically coiled python.
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The picture, meant to be creative and edgy, confronted large backlash and even led to authorized hassle. However over time, it has change into a logo of fearless inventive expression in an in any other case cautious media panorama.
Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt for Stardust
Few journal covers have stirred up as a lot debate as the problem that includes filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter, Pooja. The picture of a father kissing his daughter on the lips set off a media storm.
Mahesh later defended the shot as metaphorical and meant to impress thought, not shock. Regardless of the intention, the picture stays one of the controversial moments in Indian editorial historical past.
Sharmila Tagore for Filmfare
Earlier than bikini shoots had been a dime a dozen, Sharmila Tagore made historical past by posing in a single for the journal again within the Sixties. On the time, it was unparalleled for a mainstream Bollywood actress to problem conservative norms so boldly.
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Whereas she confronted criticism, she additionally obtained admiration for proudly owning her selections and refusing to be boxed in.
Ranveer Singh for Paper Journal
Ranveer Singh has all the time been a little bit of a trend renegade, however his nude shoot for the journal took issues to a different degree. Shot in uncooked, moody tones, the pictures had been as a lot about vulnerability as they had been about confidence.
Whereas some critics referred to as it a publicity stunt, others noticed it as an announcement about breaking poisonous masculine stereotypes. Both method, it acquired the nation speaking, and that’s what daring trend is meant to do.
Mandira Bedi for Stardust
Within the early 2000s, when most actresses recognized for TV roles had been anticipated to uphold a sure “sanskari” picture, Mandira Bedi shattered expectations by posing in a metallic gold bikini. The bikini itself wasn’t as controversial as her ‘Ek onkar’ tattoo.
Parveen Babi for TIME Journal
In 1976, Parveen Babi appeared on the quilt of the journal as a logo of the altering face of India. Recognized for her Western trend sense and unbiased life-style, Babi defied the cookie-cutter picture of ladies in cinema on the time. Her presence on the worldwide stage was about illustration, perspective, and redefining what it meant to be Indian and fashionable.
