ON RECOGNISING THE HOTNESS...

I'm back even sooner than I thought I'd be, to talk about something that's been on my mind... that thing being the moment when I recognise the 'hotness'... the moment when I look at an actor and realise that he's not just good-looking, he's very, very hot! I'm laughing at myself right now... such frivolous subject matter, I know, but it feels like it's been a while since I've been utterly frivolous around here (and even if it hasn't, humour me, please).

'Hotness', I think, is such a subjective, flimsy thing - so many people in Bollywood are good-looking, sometimes exceptionally so... but I don't always find them hot - and usually right not off the bat. One notable exception to this rule was Dharmendra (of course) who totally had me at hello. But it's more usually the case with me that I see a particular actor in a few films before I see him looking a particular way (whether it has to do with wardrobe, styling, physique, or even just his demeanour - the way he stands, speaks or walks) that just strikes me as hot. Another notable exception to this rule: Ajay Devgan, whose hotness I've raved about before, in near-embarrassing detail (now if only he'd lay off the hair dye...).

But back to my point about it usually taking a minute for me to 'recognise the hotness'... let me provide a few cases to illustrate (who am I kidding, this is just an elaborate excuse to look for pictures of hot men and put them on my blog so I can smile at them later)... I've always thought John Abraham was an extremely attractive young man (those gorgeous brown eyes, that beautiful smile!), but I didn't feel even a flicker of hotness where he was concerned until 'Salaam-e-Ishq' (yup, I didn't even feel it in 'Dhoom' - felt Abhishek totally pipped him to the post in that one) - and that flicker only burst into flame with 'Dostana'.

There are two reasons why I finally find John hot (and no, the massive muscle growth isn't one of them - it's not really my thing).

One is his haircut - the man has always had great looking hair (you almost want to touch it), but he hasn't always done great-looking things with it. I was elated when he cut it short for 'Goal'... am SO loving him with short hair, I hated that floppy cut he had in his awful 'Aetbaar' days. The second thing is the confidence and comfort he seems to slowly be developing onscreen - John seems more relaxed these days (although I feel he still has a ways to go), and that's very appealing. I used to feel such a disconnect between the laidback, ultra-cool guy I saw in interviews and this stiff, contained, over-eager, overly-serious person he seemed to be on screen - now he seems to be streamlining the 'two Johns' into one, and I am loving it...

Now, I love John with short hair, but it's the other way round with Arjun Rampal. Once upon a time, I found him very pretty but also rather bland and/or boring to look at (Exhibit A: 'Dil Ka Rishta'. Exhibit B: 'Yakeen'), but then he grew out those locks for his role in 'Don' (2006) and I had to do an about-face and look again... and again, when he played the sexy bad guy in 'Om Shanti Om' (they kinda ruined his character in the second half, but he was still pretty hot); and now, even though I haven't yet seen 'Rock On' (can't wait though), the pictures of him with all that hair... well, let's just say, kabhi khushi, kabhi khushi, khushi, khushi....


Speaking of kabhi khushi, there's Shahrukh Khan... where to start? My first encounter with SRK was with his annoying Raj in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' - and although I ended up enjoying the film, I wasn't feeling the hotness at the time at all... since then though, I've felt it, many, many, many times... at the moment, my favourite is his lean, rangy, angst-ridden, stubbliciousness in 'Chak De! India'... swoon.

Bad 90s fashion aside, I even find him hot in a lot of his older flicks. Really, I could go on and on, but yeah, suffice it to say that I now think he's seriously hot.

Well, I think I've given enough examples of recognising the hotness for one day (and have looked at enough gorgeous pictures in the process)... other names spring to mind - Vinod Khanna (he very nearly stole my heart, but Dharam beat him to it), Amitabh Bachchan (most especially as the bad boy in 'Deewaar'), Dilip Kumar (yes, Dilip Kumar), and even Shahid Kapoor (I blame 'Jab We Met'), and oh my goodness, I haven't even mentioned Abhishek or Hrithik.... but I think I feel a fever coming on - with all this talk of hotness, I'm burning up - and so I will depart now and (hopefully!) come back with something suitably grown-up next time....