Sari-Clad Bunnies? Playboy To Open First Club In India

Coinciding with the first appearance of an Indian model in the famed adult magazine 'Playboy,' the first Playboy Club is set to open in India next month.

The 22,000-square-foot new club – which will offer alcoholic drinks served by comely 'Playboy bunnies' – will be located on Candolim beach in Goa, the resort on India's west coast which is extremely popular with tourists.

PB Lifestyle, the Indian company which owns the rights to the 'Playboy' brand, plans to open a total of 120 clubs, hotels, cafés over the next ten years.

Sherlyn Chopra, a minor Bollywood film actress and TV reality show starlet, made dubious history of sorts by becoming the first Indian woman to pose nude for Hugh Hefner's iconic publication.

However, the club in Goa will not be like any other Playboy venue in the west. According to Agence-France Presse, Sanjay Gupta, chief executive of PB Lifestyle Ltd. -- an arm of Playboy Enterprises International Inc. -- said the Indian 'bunnies' would not wear the classic tight corset with a rabbit tail and ears, and there would be no nudity at the clubs.

"Bunnies are an integral part of Playboy clubs," he told AFP. "For the obvious reasons of Indian morality and sensibilities, we can't follow the traditional costumes that Playboy bunnies are associated with."

It is unclear how the bunnies will be dressed.

According to the Hindustan Times newspaper, Gupta also explained: “While we will not try to disconnect from the core essence of the brand, it's not going to be about nudity that the Playboy magazine has been traditionally known for. It's going to be more about lifestyle, exclusivity.”

Chopra herself tweeted to AFP about the new club: "Super excited! It ain't about nudity ... (it is) about introducing a lifestyle of fun (and) glamor."

Ironically, under India's obscenity laws, foreign 'adult' magazines like Playboy are banned in the country.