Mothers do a disappearing act in Bollywood

MUMBAI: They were once a feared presence on set, keeping an eye on their daughters to protect them from roving eyes or hands. But the days of Bollywood heroines being chaperoned by their mothers are numbered.

"Mummy-ji", as everyone from the director downwards always called her, is becoming a thing of the past, as actresses in India's popular Hindi-language film industry prefer to forge and manage their careers alone.

"I think the prime reason is because our industry has become more corporate and sleazy people have disappeared," said Celina Jaitley, the daughter of an Indian army colonel, whose first break was in the 2003 hit film Janasheen.