ABSTRACT
An important feature of a rally organised by bar owners against police raids in Mumbai on 20 August 2004 was the emergence of the bar dancer into the public arena. A large number of girls with their faces covered were at the forefront of the rally holding up placards with blown-up pictures of semi-clad Bollywood 1 stars. It was a statement questioning the hypocritical morality of the state and civil society. This image became the motif for the media for the following year when the controversy around the bar dancers was raging. The media reported that there are around 75,000 bar dancers in the city of Mumbai and its suburbs and they have organised themselves into a union to resist police raids.
