Baby-faced Varun Dhawan has joined the ranks of Rishi Kapoor, Ranbir and Ranveer Singh by doing a butt shot in the new Amazon show Citadel: Honey Bunny. The actor dropped his clothes for a shot that features him getting out of bed.

Apart from the mandatory gay/trans track, heroes willing to go before the camera without a stitch on them seems to be the latest cool thing to do. But the pioneers were Rishi Kapoor who did a full monty under his father’s direction for Bobby (1973) and son Ranbir who announced: “Mom, I’ve dropped my towel” after he did a butt shot for Bhansali’s Saawariya (2007). John Abraham too was uninhibited when he went naked for Anurag Kashyap’s No Smoking (2006).

When Pahlaj Nihalani was heading the CBFC, the censors had a tough time passing a song in Aditya Chopra’s Befikre (2016) — there were so many kisses in it between Ranveer and Vani Kapoor. Pahlaj finally allowed it in the theatres but had it cut for the family audience for TV. He also allowed “Only a fleeting, blink-n-miss nude shot of Ranveer and cut the rest of his nude scene.” Though Befikre was a fiasco, Ranveer followed it up with an infamous nude shoot he did for a magazine — a session that backfired on him in 2022.

Ranbir Kapoor’s butt glimpse went unnoticed in Saawariya but his carefree nudity in Animal (2023) got eyeballs, though one can hardly credit the film’s success to his no-clothes romp.

It’s not just the heroes. As crime boss Kaleen Bhaiya’s wayward son Munna, actor Divyendu Sharma — who has done impressive work in shows like The Railway Men — also dropped his trousers for Amazon’s Mirzapur.

However, a nude shot is no meter to gauge an actor’s ease before the camera. As Pahlaj put it, “I told Ranveer during Befikre that a nude scene is not going to make or break his career.” But actors continue to think of a nude scene as overcoming a big challenge.

To move to a different challenge, Shoojit Sircar left the comfort of Calcutta to pay a visit to Mumbai and show us the trailer of his new film I Want To Talk with Abhishek Bachchan toplining it. “One must have simple films like this also coming out along with all the big ones,” he remarked.

Moushumi Chatterjee who did that lovely cameo for him in Piku (2015) admires Shoojit for shifting to Calcutta, without impacting his career in Hindi cinema. “He doesn’t have anybody in Mumbai and he wanted his wife and kids to grow up where they have family around them,” she explained.

Shoojit nodded, happy that his daughters — who are no longer teenagers — got to grow up in the more familiar ambience of Calcutta. But he manages his dual life in Mumbai and Calcutta with ease, making movies such as Gulabo Sitabo (2020) and Sardar Udham (2021) without ruffling his family.

Given his long association with Amitabh Bachchan that goes back to the unreleased film Shoebite and several ads like the witty ones for Mazaa and Cadbury, one would think movies and dad were Abhishek’s connection with Shoojit. But they also bond over football. Whether he’s in Calcutta or Mumbai, Shoojit will find time on a Sunday for a quick, sweaty game. Abhishek is equally fond of playing it, besides being the owner of Chennaiyin FC.

With I Want To Talk that has bits of the Bengali in him surfacing, Abhishek further establishes that he has a trajectory quite different from his father’s. Senior may be all over the place (as an actor, KBC host five times a week and multiple ads) which he carries off with elan. Contrarily, Junior rations his appearances to an exclusive minimum but ensures substantiality in his choices. Abhishek has a certain vulnerability about him and whether Ghoomer, Dasvi or Manmarziyaan work or not, you’re assured that every time he steps out, there will be something endearing and varied on offer. It adds value to the refreshing premise of I Want To Talk.