India is not exactly a country known for its sexual liberation, which is why it’s a strange spot for Hugh Hefner’s empire to open up a Playboy Club, especially considering that the magazine has been banned there. (Forget about public nudity, as Jezebel.com notes, the Indian government is so conservative that they are even allowed to issue arrest warrants for couples kissing in public, fully clothed.)
If you weren’t bar-hopping in the 1960’s (or missed the short-lived TV show on NBC,) a Playboy Club is a lounge for male members to drink and be waited on by scantily-clad female staff, who are as much the entertainment in their bunny ears and lingerie as they are the wait staff. And while there are no longer any clubs in the U.S. (the last American club shuttered its doors in Las Vegas in June 2012) Playboy has licensed its brand to a Mumbai-based company named PB Lifestyle that is planning on opening up a club in Goa, India in December 2012.
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The only problem? According to Jezebel.com , the Goan government is not on board with the club’s opening and is planning on shutting down the operation ASAP, despite the fact that the Indian club will be a watered-down version of the original with costumes that will display much less T&A.
“We will dissociate from nudity completely. We are positioning it around lifestyle, aspiration and glamour,” said chief executive Sanjay Gupta, adding that his goal is to create a spot his wife would feel comfortable going to.
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If successful with the Goan club (and not thwarted by the government and/or protesting women’s groups) the company’s plan are to open up 120 more locations in India, including bars, cafes, and retail stores, which means that Playboy culture might become even more prevalent in that country than it is in the U.S..
We wonder if The Girls Next Door: The Search For India’s Next Playmate could be next? We bet Holly Madison would be willing to be a judge.
Photo Credit: ICON/Fame Pictures
