SOMEWHERE along the cinematic path, between the glycerine-induced tears, the 10 songs, 15 dances and the multiple costume changes, the Indian heroine shrank.

Curvy, voluptous, doe-eyed screen damsels have now become heroines with taut abdominals and toned arms.

A roll of belly flab, big hips and generous thighs didn't stop Hema Malini, Sridevi, Jayalalithaa and Mumtaz's fans from celebrating their curves as well as their on-screen dramatic prowess.

However, the first sign that the leading lady's body was changing arrived with the sexy pin-up girls of the late 1960s and 1970s - Sharmila Tagore, Dimple Kapadia, Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi. They transformed the Indian heroine's image from a sari-clad singing, crying and dancing doll to a slim enchantress and a femme fatale... an image that lasted well into the 1980s. The transformation picked up speed in the 1990s when svelte models and beauty queens like Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra muscled in on Bollywood.

But it was Kareena Kapoor's alleged size zero that took the downsizing to a whole new level. Last year, the 29-year-old actress dropped from 60kg to 48kg in eight months to look sizzling in a pair of hot pants and a lime green bikini for Tashan.

Now, nearly every actress in Indian cinema - even those from the South like Asin, Trisha Krishnan and Nayanthara - wants to be Miss Goodbody.

Goodbye thunder thighs. Hello size zero.