Bollywood's Sherlyn Chopra, first Indian woman to pose nude for Playboy, faces backlash

There's a first for everything.

Bollywood bombshell Sherlyn Chopra has boasted she's gained the distinction of becoming the first Indian woman to take it all off for Playboy.

The shoot of the 28-year-old starlet, who has only appeared in a handful of films and the Indian Big Brother–like reality TV show Bigg Boss, took place in July and her pictorial will be published in the November issue.

Pictures of herself at the Playboy Mansion, including shots of her posing with Hugh Hefner (who is wearing his trademark bathrobe), have also been circulating on the internet.

In an interview with BBC Hindi, she said that she's proud to be the first Indian woman to do so and regards it as an achievement.

The inevitable media frenzy and public attention has resulted in criticism and stirred up debate. Criticism has ranged from online commenters calling her "repulsive" to model Rozlyn Khan—who herself has stripped for PETA and breast cancer campaigns—mocking her on Twitter ("girls use brains and not body").

Gayatri Sankar blogged a commentary at ZeeNews.com about the news. She wrote: "At a time when innocent women across the nation from Gujarat to Guwahati have been subjected to sexual abuse and humiliation, one wonders if Sherlyn Chopra’s pictures wound a woman’s integrity. Isn’t it an irony that on the one side as common women strive hard to safeguard their modesty, the Sherlyn Chopras encourage voyeurism?"

Indian consumers won't actually be able to purchase the print edition as Playboy magazine is banned in India.

Other South Asian stars who have sparked controversy by posing naked (or purportedly did so) include Pakistani actor Veena Malik, who appeared to take it all off for the December 2011 cover of FHM India.

However, confusion arose when the Lollywood star denied that she posed nude, even though the magazine asserted she had. She reportedly also received death threats.

Not to be left out, her Bollywood boyfriend Ashmit Patel also stripped down for a revealing underwear photo shoot for Men's Health in February of this year.

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