2003 is the year sex came of age in Bollywood.

Sex has long been taboo on the Hindi screen. Love and physical proximity meant a close-up of two birds or two flowers. Any physical display between the hero and heroine was frowned upon for almost half a century.

Along came Jism in January and broke some of those barriers. What it did was get rid of the Hindi film heroine's Sati-Savitri image. In its place was a sexy siren in the form of Bipasha Basu who made no apology of the fact that she was a sensual woman with her own physical needs.

Soon after, Govind Menon came off with the much-hyped Khwahish. It wasn't a great film. It didn't boast of even a decent storyline or performances. All it had was its much ballyhooed 17 kisses between the sultry and very sexy Mallika Sherawat and Himanshu Malik (left).

Music videos too seem to be getting bolder. Last year, Meghna Naidu received flak for her uninhibited body display in Kaliyon ka chaman as did Shefali Jariwala this year for Kaanta laga.

Text: Sita Menon

Out of the closet, finally