| Savita Patel |
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Savita Bhabhi is an Indian pornographic cartoon character and has earned a recognition[1] as India's first porn star. The character named Savita is depicted as an attractive promiscuous housewife who is ignored by her husband and engages in sexual adventures. The suffix bhabhi (Hindi: sister-in-law) is commonly attached to first names of Indian housewives. The character initially appeared in a freely available comic strip at savitabhabhi.com. It has since been converted into a subscription-based strip.
The cartoon character was first[2] introduced by Puneet Agarwal in March 2008[1]. It proved controversial in the conservative Indian setting as soon as it was introduced. Some critics felt it represented the face of new India’s ultra-liberal section[3][4].
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"Wow, India has now joined the elite club of China, Iran, North Korea and suchlike in the area of Internet censorship."
Pornography is illegal in India[6]. As a result the original website was censored[7] by the Indian government under its anti-pornography laws. This was met with criticism from the likes of prominent Indian libertarian bloggers and journalist Amit Varma[8]. Eventually the mainstream media columnists joined in criticizing the ban as reflecting a "meddlesome, patriarchal mindset" of a "Net Nanny" government. This resulted in an online movement to save the character from being destroyed[9].
Initially the creators of the site chose to remain anonymous, going under the assumed collective name Indian Porn Empire[10]. However in 2009, they revealed their identities and also announced their decision to take down the comic strip[2] .
The presence of a character bearing a strong resemblance to the famous Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan also met with criticism on Indian Television channels[11].
Pluggd.in, a startup blog from India did a case study on their growth and strategy.[12]