Sex Sells, And Saves; The new Indian film formula: more bombshells, lower pay, more skin.

Byline: Sudip Mazumdar

The buzz in Bollywood is best captured by the kiss count for Mallika Sherawat. A small-town girl turned sex symbol, she debuted last year in "Khwaish" ("Desire"), which caught the eyes of critics for its 17 smooching scenes. Her latest movie, "Murder," is also a sensation for reasons not all tied to plot. "God has given me a great body and I will show it off," says Sherawat, 21. "If you don't want to see it, don't."

Many Indians admit they do. Bollywood was dominated for years by musicals in which scenes of bees' sucking honey from flowers were as erotic as it got. Since the mid-' 90s, some filmmakers have been getting racier to avoid the fate of 75 percent of Indian movies, which is to lose money. Now, there are signs the margin is becoming the majority; so far this year, nearly two thirds of new Indian films have received an "A" rating for adult content. While these so-called sex flicks still stop short of full nudity, they do show just about anything that can be done with clothes on, from kissing on the mouth to simulated copulation.

A leader of the taboo-bending school is Mahesh Bhatt, who made "Murder" with Sherawat and another recent hit, "Jism" ("Body"), with Bipasha Basu. Basu had crowds cheering, and "Body" quickly doubled its $1 million cost. That's big ...