2 Thumbs Up

Posted on by

I was in India earlier this month and while celebrity endorsements are all over the place, these posters for MacroMan Underwear with Hrithik Roshan were particularly, uh, eye catching –

Having lived in the SF Bay Area for over 10 yrs, I probably read too much into the posters & tagline (“Excitingly Male”). However, more interesting & prominently featured in the ad was Mr. Roshan’s polydactyly – long the subject of giggles and hushed tones but proudly displayed for a billion desi’s to proudly gawk at –

Behold, the 2 Thumbs of a true “Macro Man”. The Hemp bracelet is pretty wild too

In the desh, historically, Hrithik’s “supernumerary thumb” is a good luck sign of sorts. While the surgical procedure to “correct” it is apparently trivial, Hrithik has chosen to, uh, hold on to his extra thumb both for luck and as his own way of keeping it real. Kudos to him – it would certainly be tough to imagine a similar individual in the US making the same choice.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized by vinod. Bookmark the permalink.

26 thoughts on “2 Thumbs Up”

  2. Who cares ( re add) Re his twin digit..it happens sometimes..he’s lucky he has the looks, so it don’t matter

  4. Once I was in the movie theater watching ‘Dhoom’. There were few white folks next to me. The ladies all screamed ‘Ewww’ at the sight of his double digit.

    All though this is anecdotal, I find that minor physical imperfections (like here) are ignored in Desh compared to the west which is burdened with the artificial sense of beauty fed by popular media and fashion. On the other hand, major disabilities are treated much more kindly and with consideration than in Desh.

    “In the desh, historically, Hrithik’s “supernumerary thumb” is a good luck sign of sorts.”

    Never heard of that being a good luck sign, where did you get that. I think people just don’t care about it given his other qualities.

  6. Wonder if they make “MicroMan” underwear

    They will sell as long as they are really cheap, since most people who buy in that price range won’t care about the brand name.

    The funniest underwear brand I have seen here is ‘Fruit of the Loom‘ 🙂

  9. All though this is anecdotal, I find that minor physical imperfections (like here) are ignored in Desh compared to the west which is burdened with the artificial sense of beauty fed by popular media and fashion. On the other hand, major disabilities are treated much more kindly and with consideration than in Desh.

    How true … great insight!

  10. All though this is anecdotal, I find that minor physical imperfections (like here) are ignored in Desh compared to the west which is burdened with the artificial sense of beauty fed by popular media and fashion.

    Use of the term ‘artificial’ here for anyone who might find their own ‘double-thumb’ to be profoundly disturbing and want it removed is way too loaded. Either choice (Hrithik’s to keep it or my hypothetical one to remove it) is OK–stop trying to push your agenda, please.

  11. While Hrithik’s decision is commendable, one can only rejoice when a woman born with a similar condition could rise to superstar status like Hrithik has. Never mind even if she has rich Bollywood lineage like our man does–Hrithik’s extra digit is a “statement.” For a Bollywood heroine wannabe it would be a disaster.

  12. how is it that no one else notices the ‘tag and thread’ strategically placed between his legs as comment-worthy? aaah, Indian subtlety, gotta love it.

  13. Use of the term ‘artificial’ here for anyone who might find their own ‘double-thumb’ to be profoundly disturbing and want it removed is way too loaded. Either choice (Hrithik’s to keep it or my hypothetical one to remove it) is OK–stop trying to push your agenda, please.

    Agenda ? What agenda ? It is completely fine if someone wants to get it removed, but I am talking about other people’s reaction to such minor imperfections (not the person who possess it). When in India, I have had cousin with extra digit, but it never seemed too out of normal; but the disgusted reaction that people show here to say problems as minor as acne to bad haircut is what I am talking about.

  16. I hope Mr. Roshan never meets Mr. Emanuel in a dark alley.

    yeah, mr emanuel might want to show him who’s the real chief of staff

  17. All though this is anecdotal, I find that minor physical imperfections (like here) are ignored in Desh compared to the west which is burdened with the artificial sense of beauty fed by popular media and fashion. On the other hand, major disabilities are treated much more kindly and with consideration than in Desh.

    Yeah right. Minor physical imperfections are treated kindly but dark-skin –which is natural and dominant in India–isn’t.I don’t deny the accuracy of your point and I’m not trying to derail this thread but that statement was sorta hypocritical to me.

  18. All though this is anecdotal, I find that minor physical imperfections (like here) are ignored in Desh compared to the west which is burdened with the artificial sense of beauty fed by popular media and fashion. On the other hand, major disabilities are treated much more kindly and with consideration than in Desh.

    That is a good point, Zee. Often people with these kinds of minor physical anomalies are given nicknames or even proper names which are accepted and absorbed as a part of one’s persona, case in point being this famous jewelery shop in Lucknow. Dark skin may also cause the subject to be (nick) named Kalua, Kalia, Shyam, Krishna or Kali-mata (the last often being a derogatory reference). Discrimination may or not follow. I believe it is worse for women, and needs to be condemned. It is quite obvious that obsession with physical beauty is a part of Western culture, hence the market for cosmetic surgery, fad diets, anorexic teens and high incidence of body dysmorphic disorders.This may be partly due to western society having more time and money to fret over minor physical imperfections.

  19. I’m sorry i can’t reference the quote/interview, but i heard that he felt this double digit has given him good luck and therefore he didn’t want to surgically remove it.

    Good for him. I do agree however that if it was on a female bollywood star it may not have been as widely accepted probably.

  20. Mr. Roshan probably had an easier time compared to his other classmates when learning to add/subtract sums in kindergarten… I think having more than 5 digits on a hand or foot is considered a dominant trait – or is it a dominant gene(s)??? or just a fluke of nature?. Any students of genetics out there who can clarify?

    After I gave birth to my daughter, I always wish I had an extra working arm to help me with my daily chores. Carry a baby in one arm and cleaning the house with the other free hand was not easy.

  21. Mr. Roshan probably had an easier time compared to his other classmates when learning to add/subtract sums in kindergarten… I think having more than 5 digits on a hand or foot is considered a dominant trait – or is it a dominant gene(s)??? or just a fluke of nature?. Any genetics experts out there who can clarify?

    After I gave birth to my daughter, I always wish I had an extra working arm to help me with my daily chores. Carry a baby in one arm and cleaning the house with the other free hand was not easy.

  22. (I am so sorry for the comment appearing twice – my mistake. Strange that I did it on this topic, though), Please delete my last comment.

  23. I happened to meet Hrithik in Vegas sometime last year – I believe he was down there for the shooting of his movie Kites. He was very accomodating with photographs and handshakes even at 4 in the morning. As we shook hands, I couldn’t help notice that he only had, well a regular thumb while I was expecting something from the pic above. So I think that’s an old ad, he has gotten rid of the lucky charm since then…

  24. Carry a baby in one arm and cleaning the house with the other free hand was not easy.

    Ever heard of a cage?