Amrita Rao joins the bikini brigade

Amrita Rao has shed her girl-next-door image and slipped into a sexy two-piece for a song called Pal Pal in her latest film, Short Kut: The Con Is On. The actress is obviously hoping to cash in on the latest bikini trend in Bollywood.

Amrita had the regular college girl look in her debut film, Ishq Vishk as well as her big hit, Main Hoon Na. But the young actress seems to want to move beyond the simple look to a bolder one.

The Short Kut song, with Arshad Warsi, looks like the transition has been successful.

This is not the first time Amrita has tried her hand at being sexy. Her earlier film, My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, saw the actress in skimpy outfits as well. But it bombed at the box office. 

Soon after, she switched over to a traditional look in Vivaah and Welcome To Sajjanpur.

Short Kut promises to give Amrita's career a new lease of life.

The other star in this film is Akshaye Khanna, who had starred with Amrita in one of her earliest films, Deewar: Let's Bring Our Heroes Home (2004).

The last time we saw Akshaye and Arshad together was in Hulchul (2004).

Short Kut is produced by Anil Kapoor and directed by Neeraj Vohra. It will release on July 10.