Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh questioned by police for nude shoot

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh was questioned by police on Monday on charges of obscenity after posting naked photos of himself on social media.

Singh, 37, posted the images shot for New York magazine Paper on social media in July, sparking a media frenzy in India and resulting in several complaints.

Mumbai police questioned Singh for more than two hours on Monday on charges of "corrupting youth of society" and "embarrassing women", police said, and recorded his official statement.

"The inquiry is ongoing," said senior police inspector Jaykumar Suryavanshi, without disclosing details of Singh's statement.

The nude photos of Singh, star of hit films Gully Boy and Simmba, provoked a storm of debate on India's TV news.

"Of course this is vulgar ... it's a national issue," said lawyer Vedika Chaubey during a panel show on NDTV, days after lodging a complaint against Singh with police.

Singh, who is married to actress Deepika Padukone, is among a growing list of celebrities falling foul of India's obscenity rules.

Other personalities who have been hit by complaints include fellow Bollywood megastar Aamir Khan for the poster promoting his 2014 movie PK.

Model-turned-actor Milind Soman was charged over a revealing image taken for a 1995 shoe advertisement with model Madhu Sapre and a python. The charges were dropped after 14 years.

Renowned artist M F Husain fled the country after a painting depicting a nude woman posing across a map of the country got him into legal trouble. He died in self-imposed exile in 2011.

Earlier this year a professor in Kolkata said she was fired after posting photos of herself in a bikini on Instagram. The university is reportedly suing her for $12 million.

Human rights lawyer and social activist Abha Singh said the laws needed to be updated.

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