I was going to do something slightly more highbrow.  Indian movie stars with the American flag or something.  But then I thought “No!  Why overthink it?”  And so our theme for this week is a Declaration of Independence….from clothing!

I’m just gonna start at the top!  With a new classic.  A still from a movie, but don’t worry too much about the character motivation and stuff.  They are talking a gay Akshay Kumar, he orders them to strip out of their clothes, and they do.  And coincidentally are wearing the same underwear.  So I guess that is an early indication that although seeming to dislike each other they are destined to be best buddies?  All right, so this whole thing is like justified by the narrative.  Sure.  That makes sense.

Okay, on the other hand, this image is from the promotional tour and there is absolutely no reason for it.  Except for the fact that they clearly know what exactly it is they are promoting.

Now, speaking of promotional images with no real reason to exist besides the obvious reason they exist, we all know why this photographer had Shahrukh take his shirt off and stand in the water, right?  So we can all pretend that there is nothing else underneath on underneath the water?  Oh look, we surprised him!  He didn’t see us there.

Unlike Shahrukh, Ranveer just likes us all to watch him.  I mean, I guess this is in character too.   But really, Ranveer just likes us to watch.

Ranbir, not sure if he likes us to watch or not?  But I guess he will let us, if he feels like the plot requires it.  In other words, what I am saying is that he danced in a towel (and dropped the towel), in his very first film.

At least the previous images were kind of hidden within a film.  Or within a photoshoot.  But boy, Vogue India is not messing around!  Naked Hrithik and Lisa Haydon right on the cover!  Definite something that will get you to pick it up from the newsstand, right?  Although, speaking only for myself, I am never going to wear whatever it is that Lisa is wearing.  That looks crazy uncomfortable.

This is from the actual underwear ad campaign that Hrithik did.  I feel like he could be wearing less?  Right?  Like, if what he is selling is underwear, then just sell us some underwear!!!!!  Not sunglasses, not suspenders, not silly looking hair.

Now, see Dino Morea gets it!  This is how you sell underwear!  Or whatever it is that he is selling here, I am unclear.

Akshay here, he is selling “unbutton” jeans.  See?  See how you look at this image and think “oh yes, myself as a straight young man, I am fascinated by this image and it makes me want to buy button fly jeans”.

Now, while we are talking men liberated from clothing, I think there is one photo that  I just have to put up one more time.  Oh Jackie!  Who stole your clothing?

And to end, a classic.  A classic because it is Dharmendra, and because it is Sholay.  And because it is a woman tearing the clothing off of a chained man like it’s Conan the Barbarian or something.

Update: Angie, in the comments, just pointed me towards a recent Maddy tweet.  He seems to have picked up on my theme a few hours early.