The Playboy Club is all set to enter India with Goa likely to see the brand's first club in the country in December if all goes well but self-styled moral police could jump in to protest if Playboy bunnies wear revealing outfits. India, which has strict censorship laws, doesn't allow Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine in the country as it is known for publishing naked pictures of women.
Playboy Lifestyle, which has signed a 30-year licensing agreement with Playboy Enterprises Inc., is planning to open 120 clubs, hotels, fashion cafes and shops in India in the next 10 years. It is planning to invest 2 billion rupees in the innitial five years. Former Congress MLA of Calangute Agnelo Fernandes is in negotiations with PB Lifestyle to open the brand's first club in the country at his beachside property, reported Times of India. However, he said that the negotiations are still on and nothing has been signed. However, it looks like moral police in the country will make the lives of the Playboy Clubs owners tough, as even scantily-clad cheerleaders at the IPL are being criticized in this part of the world.
Playboy Clubs are known for the sexy and scatily-clad Playboy bunnies or waitresses. They wear a costume called a "bunny suit" consisting of a corset, bunny ears, a collar, cuffs and a fluffy cottontail, which various organizations in India may find too much to take. "They may brand the club as Playboy but if they indulge in obscenity, vulgarity or nudity, then we will withdraw their permission immediately," Goa's director of tourism Nikhil Desai, told AFP. "They are associated with scantily clad women, fun and pleasure. What is the point of getting Playboy to India in such a boring way?" 25-year-old Yash Sanghavi, a digital advertising executive, told Reuters. However, Sanjay Gupta, CEO of PB Lifestyle, said that the outfits of the Playboy bunnies won't be a problem as they would do away with the sexy attires worn in other countries. "The costumes of the bunnies, who are integral to the Playboy culture, will be based on Indian sensibilities and morals," Reuters quoted Gupta as saying. "Our clubs will not have any nudity. So there should not be any problem and we are prepared to deal with it if there is any." (With Inputs from Reuters)