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Barbie Doll pics have been used for representation purpose only. Pics/Shadab Khan | When wise old men say, 'Milawat ka zamaana hai', they might be talking more than pebbles in rice. Brides and grooms in urban India are changing the way they look using surgery, to impress lovers who haven't a clue about their clandestine clinic trips, finds Melissa D'costa
Perhaps the next time a hopeful singleton or eager parents put in a matrimonial ad for a "fair to wheatish complexioned, slim" girl, or even a "tall and fit" groom who earns no less than Rs 50k a month, they might want to put in an appendage that stresses that the traits we seek must be original rather than acquired at a cosmetic clinic for a per session fee.
Cosmetic surgeons in the city have a brand new breed of patients, identified not by gender or income, but by marital status. With the "yaar, shaadi sirf ek baar hoti hai" drone often repeated ad nauseum, India's single men and women want a no less than a perfect wedding. And that comes not only with the best shaadi ka joda their bank balance can buy, a romantic venue, lavish feast and an African-daisies-and-Anthurium-studded stage, but also the perfect body and face.
Willing to take risks
Cosmetic and plastic surgeon Dr Meenakshi Agrawal who runs Face and Figure at Mahim admits she receives to-be brides and grooms driven by the desire to look their best. Belonging to upper middle class Mumbai, they are willing to spend as much as 10% to 20% of their monthly income on a cosmetic procedure. "They see it as an investment, because in India, marriages are for keeps. They are willing to take risks, and invest time and money in their quest to look good," she says.
She did it to look good in a saree
Thirty year-old Rekha Misra , a freelance interpreter (name changed on request) married the man she was in love with in June this year, a man she's known for over two years. She wanted to look gorgeous in a saree, and love handles were sure to play spoiler. So, instead of hitting the gym with a vengeance, the Colaba resident dropped in at Dr Agrawal's clinic.
Weighing 65 kilos, Rekha decided to go for liposuction (a fat removal procedure that aims to eradicate excessive stubborn fat deposits from the body) to lose 5 kilos. "The fat around my abdomen and my arms was posing a problem. Since I was busy with wedding arrangements, I had no time to hit the gym," she says. She was apprehensive to start with, but decided to go through with it anyway. "It took just one day; I was there in the morning and discharged by evening. I experienced a slight swelling and pain for two days, but that subsided soon."
And hubby doesn't know
No one from Rekha's family is aware that she's undergone a cosmetic surgery procedure, not even her husband.
"I was not comfortable sharing details with anyone. My husband noticed the weight loss, but thought it was due to all the running around I had done for the wedding," Rekha says. And she refuses to feel guilty about keeping it a secret from her husband. "I did it to look gorgeous for him. It was all for him."
Rekha has managed to keep those 5 kilos off, by sticking to a nutritious diet and banning junk food from her life.
Face lift nahin toh face polish
Cosmetologists agree that several patients approach them without the knowledge of family members. And those who are apprehensive about going under the knife (liposuction, face-lifts, breast enhancements and nose jobs or rhinoplasty), opt for non-surgical procedures that help fade lines and wrinkles, plump up lips, leaving their complexion smooth, firm and clear. Most of these treatments involve topical anesthesia, reducing recovery time cut and possible complications.
They make unrealistic demands
Cosmetic surgeon and medical director of Cutisklinic, Dr Apratim Goel consults patients aged 22 to 35, and has seen the number grow radically in the last two years. Higher disposable and hefty salaries allow them the economic freedom to invest in their looks. "They have a set idea of what good-looking is. Some of them make unrealistic demands, and expect me to work miracles in days. I hear them out, tell them what I can do and leave the decision to them," she says, explaining that a picture is taken before and after for comparison.
Women clients outdo male
Dr Snehal Sriram, Head Medical Services, Kaya Skin Clinic, says skin treatments that help heal acne and brighten the complexion are hot favourites among young girls and guys. Older women come in for Botox and fillers. "Number of women clients beat men by about 20%," she says.
Dr Nandita Shah, co-director of a women's rights organisation of Akshara, that works with young women and men for gender equality, says it's to do with a deep-rooted anxiety that most women live with we are not good enough. Images endorsed by the beauty, fashion and cosmetic industry make matters worse. "Several patients are hardly aware of the failure rate of surgeries and the possibility of things going wrong.
And with statements like item girl Rakhi Sawant's (on a popular talk show, she said, "Jo bhagwan nahin deta hai, woh doctor deta hai"), cosmetic surgery has emerged from the realm of unthinkable creeping into tangible.
Award-winning scriptwriter and filmmaker Paromita Vora, who wrote Skin Deep, a film that explores the self perception among contemporary urban, middle class women in India, says the idea of what is good-looking for most people is determined by the images we see in the media, in magazines and on television. And that's what drives them to reach out for what they view as perfect, whether that means buying a fairness cream tube with their groceries every month, or dropping in to a cosmetic clinic for a makeover.
Koena regrets her nose job
These days, it's tough to find a Bollywood celeb who hasn't gone under the knife. Sushmita Sen, Rakhi Sawant and Bipasha Basu have been spoken about for their breast implants, Shilpa Shetty for her rhinoplasty or nose correction, and Koena Mitra for nose and lip jobs.
In an interview Koena said the nose job was a gamble. Soon after surgery, her pals said how she looked better before. "I was heartbroken. I, too, didn't like what I saw in the mirror. It was depressing," she admitted. "My cheeks looked swollen. Since I was bony, it was very obvious. That's when people concluded I had done a
face job."
What's Skin Deep?
Shot in the form of a docu-feature, Paromita Vora's Skin Deep recreates interviews with various women into six first-person narratives that form the structure of the film. It gives you an insight into a woman's complicated and contradictory relationships with her body, and traces the dynamics of the eternal search for the ideal femininity, and how it permeates the self-image of contemporary women.
Botox: Rs 5,000 to Rs 19,000 (repeated every 6 mths)
Laser acne removal: Rs 10,000 per session (7 to 8 sessions required)
Lip fillers: Rs 12,000 per syringe
Breast Implant: Rs 60,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh
Skin lightning: Rs 5,000 per session (3 sessions required)
Rhinoplasty: Rs 60,000 to Rs 2 lakh
Upper lip laser hair removal: Rs 7,500 for 6 sessions
Underarm hair laser removal: Rs 12,000 for 6 sessions
Liposuction: Rs 1 lakh onwards (to drain 3 litres of fat)
*All figures vary from clinic to clinic and depend on individual demands
Percentage of women that opts for surgical beauty treatments more than men: 20%
In demand cosmetic treatments, and what they cost
Dr Meenakshi Agrawal's Face and Figure clinic
Liposuction: Rs 50,000 onwards
Rhinoplasty: Rs 50,000
Breast implant: Rs 75,000 onwards
Hair transplant: Rs 70,000 onwards
Male breast reduction: Rs 35,000 onwards
Duration: 2 to 3 hours (patient can get the treatment done on the same day)
Non surgical treatments
Skin Treatment: Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per sitting
Botox: Rs 7,000 onwards for 240 to 350 per unit
Duration: 10 to 15 minutes
Dr Apratim Goel's CutisKlinic
Botox: Rs 5,000 to 19,000 (depending on body part). Has to be repeated every 6 months.
Fillers: Rs 12,000 per syringe (1 ml). Total cost depends on amount injected. Repeated once in 10 months.
Laser hair removal: Depends on area treated. (Upper lip: Rs 1,000 per session, Rs 4,900 7 session package)
Laser skin toning: Rs 4,500 per session. 4 to 5 sessions required at interval of 2 to 3 weeks.
Total cost: Rs 20,000
Skin polishing: Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,600 per session
Skin lightening: Rs 5,000 per session. 2 to 3 sessions required
Back polishing: Rs 8,000
Chemical peels: Face costs 2,500 per session, back costs Rs 8,000 per session.
Dermalift for instant skin tightening: Rs 5,000 per session
Blue light laser for acne: Rs 1,000 per session. 8 sessions needed twice a week
Kaya Skin Care
Kaya Glow: Rs 1,950 per session
Duration: 1 hour per session
Kaya Advanced Facial: Rs 1,200 per session Duration: 1 hour per session
Under arms laser hair removal: Rs 2,400 for single session, Rs 12,000 for 6 session package
Upper Lip hair removal: Rs 1,500 for single session, Rs 7,500 for 6 sessions
Bikini hair removal: Rs 4,050 for single session, Rs 20,250 for 6 session package |
