A bikini or two-piece is a type of women's swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts — one covering the breasts (optionally in the case of the Monokini), the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks), leaving an uncovered area between the two garments. It is often worn in hot weather or while swimming. The shapes of both parts of a bikini closely resemble women's underwear, and the lower part of a bikini can therefore range from the more revealing thong or g-string, to briefs, and modest square-cut shorts.

The bikini was named after the Bikini Atoll. It was the site of a nuclear weapon test called Operation Crossroads four days earlier, on July 1, in the Marshall Islands. The reasoning for the name was that the burst of excitement created by it would be like a nuclear device. Monokini, a bikini variant, derives its name, as a back formation, from bikini, interpreting the first syllable as the Latin prefix bi- (meaning "two") and substituting for it mono- (meaning "one"), on the (perhaps intentionally) mistaken notion that the bi- element was the Greek prefix meaning "two". Jacques Heim called his bikini precursor the Atome (named for its size), while Louis Réard, the inventor of bikini, claimed to have "split the Atome" to make it smaller.

Mallika Sherawat removes trousers

There is more trouble coming for Mallika Sherawat. After filing a complaint over her alleged obscene performance at J W Marriott Hotel in Mumbai on New Year's eve, advocate and Baroda Bar Association president Narendra Tiwari has furnished some more evidence in an attempt to substantiate his claims in a petition filed earlier this month.

Tiwari has now come up with photographic evidence that the star had removed the trousers of a man on stage during the performance.

The photos are below (courtesy ToI). But really, the only person who has any right to complain about that is the gentleman whose trouser Mallika removed -- and that too only if she was, heh, doing it against his will. What's Mr Tiwari's problem?

The wearing of bikinis has always been linked to the emancipation of women. A long time ago Saira Banu and Sharmila Tagore shocked, sorry, enticed the audience by appearing on screen wearing just bikinis.

Recently Kareena Kapoor enthralled everyone with her two-piece act. Ameesha Patel looked sexy in a yellow swimsuit in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Minissha Lamba put on swimwear for the movie Kidnap.

In the film Fashion, debutante Mugdha Godse will be seen in a bikini. She feels more heroines are donning swimwear now because they are willing to experiment and she does not think that swimsuit scenes are just a marketing technique. .

The south film industry is also on to the swimsuit trend, with actresses Nayanatara and Namitha sporting swimwear. Namitha, who appeared in a swimsuit for Billa says that she had no inhibitions about wearing a swimsuit.

Celebrity stylist Anaita Shroff Adjania, who also styled for Dhoom 2, however, feels that bikini scenes should be in a movie only when they are required. But she agrees that heroines now are more prepared to wear glamorous clothes as they are very conscious about their bodies.