Step aside, size-zero bikini bods and raunchy item sirens. It’s time for sensuality with some real substance and soul. The new sexy goes way beyond physical attributes. It’s about soft edge. It’s about a bolder take on things. It’s about smarts. It’s about being imperfect yet comfortable in your own skin. It’s about sensuality 360o. Chitrangda Singh fills the bill perfectly.

Styled like a Greek goddess by Verve in graceful, fluid drapes by Shantanu and Nikhil and Gayatri Khanna and shot against the grainy drama of a building in renovation, Chitrangda makes a striking contrast against the rubble. It’s an apt visual metaphor for the actor who recently decided to resurrect her career after a mysterious three-year vanishing act. Billed the next Smita Patil after her sensational debut in Sudhir Mishra’s 2003 political epic, Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, her sudden exit from films caused near panic among the industry’s ‘thinking’ directors. Serious about her second innings, the actor is here with Onir’s Sorry Bhai and is excited about portraying an ultra-stylish, modern-day Chandramukhi in mentor and close friend Sudhir Mishra’s Aur Devdas, a political adaptation of Devdas set in contemporary times.

Interestingly, her absence only seems to have added to her enigma. After nearly doing a film with Aamir Khan, she has now been signed opposite Saif Ali Khan for Mishra’s next, The Nawab, the Nautch Girl and the Johns Company. Up close and personal with her after the shoot, I discover Chitrangda’s magnetism is not merely about her looks. Be it her size-zero defying curves, her dusky skin, her unconventional choice of roles or her continuing popularity despite motherhood, the stunner is at the cutting edge of change, breaking stereotypes and established notions of desirability in Bollywood. Here’s how she exemplifies the new sexy:

Sexy is curvy
While men will happily vote for voluptuous curves over a skinny frame anytime, Bollywood has been under the spell of emaciated bodies in recent times. Think Aishwarya in Dhoom 2 or Kareena in Tashan. Fortunately, waif-like frames epitomised by supermodels like Kate Moss in the ’90s are on their way out. A welcome change from the current size zero obsession with boyish frames, Chitrangda’s womanly figure adds immensely to her sex appeal. Here’s a real woman with a real body. Shakira, Beyonce and Bipasha would approve.

Sexy is dusky
With bronzers flying off shelves, sunkissed is the new pretty. While actresses like Smita Patil and Deepti Naval were once considered an exception because of their complexion, today a growing tribe of sultry beauties like Bipasha Basu, Samira Reddy and Konkona Sen-Sharma are challenging the cult of fairness. Supremely comfortable in her dusky skin, Chitrangda reasons, “Considering the number of Fair and Lovely creams we sell, maybe the masses still prefer the light-eyed, fair girl. But the West celebrates darker skin and that has influenced fashion and cinema in India as well. We have started appreciating dusky beauty. For me it has always been an asset, personally. It takes that much less to make a dusky woman look beautiful!”

Sexy is real
Super woman is out. Real woman is in. Honest enough to admit she acted impulsively when she decided to quit acting three years ago, Chitrangda says she was hurt when a couple of associations went sour soon after Hazaron.... “I was a bit of an emotional fool but it seemed right then. I felt I was not cut out for the industry and went into a shell. I’m not blaming anyone. I needed to be sorted in my head to realise cinema is a business.”

Sexy is flawed
Perfection is passé. Be it Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’ Diary or Cher in Moonstruck, imperfection is deeply appealing. It has edge and texture. Plus, we all relate to fallible characters. In Hazaron...Chitrangda left an indelible impression as the London-bred Gita, who ends her marriage with an IAS officer to live with her Naxalite lover and even has a child out of wedlock. The woman who evolves by making her own choices and mistakes is still fresh in the collective memory of audiences. “I don’t think a woman in India has ever been portrayed where she is with three men but doesn’t come across as a slut. Hats off to Sudhir Mishra for presenting her with such dignity. She’s as much of a man as a man. But in the end, it’s not about being a man or a woman. It’s about being human. That’s the beauty of Geeta’s character.”

Sexy is grey
Miss Goody Two Shoes isn’t too popular on Indian 70 mm anymore, witness recent characters played by Katrina and Bipasha in Race or Kangana Ranaut in Gangster and Woh Lamhe. Chitrangda naturally gravitates towards characters flecked with grey. Interestingly, obsessive love, a theme that runs through Hazaron Khawaishen Aisi also recurs in Chitrangda’s upcoming films Aur Devdas and Onir’s Sorry Bhai. The actor can relate to the emotion: “People think obsessive is crazy because they haven’t experienced anything like it. But if there’s a feeling of not being able to carry on without a person, you have to make yourself complete with him or her. It’s great to be able to experience that emotional high at least once in life. Yeah, it turns negative sometimes but it’s mostly a positive emotion.”