We can not afford only the non-downable ones. All downloadable heroines have upped their rates...

MUMBAI, May 2: Mumbai police accessed the floppy from which Pooja Bhatt's `nude' picture was downloaded by Stardust and debated whether VSNL should be asked to block the site. Few hours later people from Stardust's marketing department made urgent calls to several publications urging them to send representative for `clarification.' Which turned out to be a live demo of sorts where the uninitiated were shown how hundreds of pictures of a `nude' Pooja Bhatt are floating on the internet. Pity there weren't any representatives from Agnishikhsha Manch present.

Pooja Bhatt, the Manch's current bete noire, was exonerated by the police on Friday. It was decided that no charges will be pressed against her. But the actress, armed with her father and a crusading zeal, is now in no mood to quit mid-way. Not, when the controversy was just hotting up! The actress told mediapersons that she was thinking of filing a defamation case against Stardust and India Today for reproducing the Stardust cover. While Mahesh Bhatt, between claims that he had predicted the anarchy unleashed by the internet a ``year ago'' maintained that he was thinking of a ``long-term, sustained fight so that this kind of an incident is never repeated.''

Both, father and daughter were also unanimous that some action should also be taken against the Agnishiksha Manch for harassing them. At the Cathouse, as the Stardust staffers like to refer to their office, many had reasons to look smug. After the controversy and seizure of few copies by the police, the demand for the magazine has gone up considerably. Topping that editor Omar Quereshi is convinced that through the article they have only created ``awareness of Internet abuse.''

Sure, he conceded the pictures had been downloaded ``quite some time ago.'' Exactly when he could not recall as the who had filed the story was out of town. His colleague, Ashwin Warde, editorial director of Stardust, however said outright that Suvrit Varshney who had started Bollywood. Com (Express Newsline May 2), was lying. ``It is not entirely true that the site has been off air for the last eight months. It must have been on and off periodically,'' he stated. The magazine had actually delayed publishing the story as pictures of other actresses were also available on the Net, claimed Varde. ``But we came to know of the others after the site was off air, by which time we had already downloaded the Bhatt picture.

Today it's her, tomorrow it could be anybody else.''

All the tamasha has of course boosted the prospects of Stardust's annual issue, a Rs 200 special on actresses where, incidentally, Pooja Bhatt figures prominently, marginally-really, just about-more clad than the controversial cover. And this is the real thing, not morphed.

So, till the next controversy, meeeeooow!

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.