"The films produced so far this year in the sex genre or the so called `unwritten bold` category have no story or shock value to bring the audience to the theatres," said film critic Komal Nahata.
"People have kept away from cinema halls where these films have been screened. They have not even managed good openings, forget about recovering their costs."
"Chahat Ek Nasha" has Hindi film leading lady Preeti Jhangiani in raunchy lovemaking scenes, which are exceedingly bold by Indian standards, even though there is no full frontal nudity, nor even a hint of a bare breast.
In "Sheesha", former Miss India Neha Dhupia engages in a series of kisses and passionate scenes, including, for the first time in Indian cinematic history, lovemaking in a bathroom.
But the boldness of the scenes have not brought in the crowds despite the efforts of Hindi film sex symbols Mallika Sherawat, who starred in "Murder", the film which started the trend last year, model Payal Rohatgi and popular actress Bipasha Basu.
"People have given their choice and that is this: give us a good story," said trade analyst Amod Mehra.
"After last year`s success of some such films, everyone started making movies based on the sex formula, but there were no good scripts backing the sex show," he added.
By producing "Murder", starring the brash Sherawat as a woman involved in an extra-marital affair, Hindi film industry’s famous Bhatt family offered a new formula to revive the creatively dormant film industry.
The movie pushed the boundaries of explicit sexual scenes, including one in which Sherawat makes love on the parapet of her flat in a high-rise Hong Kong building.
"Murder", analysts say, offered not only shock value but also a storyline which kept it running for 49 weeks. Made at a meagre cost of Rs 30 million ($ 690,000), the movie has already grossed Rs 150 million.
It also helped Sherawat bag a role opposite Jackie Chan in his forthcoming film "The Myth", in which she plays an Indian princess.
Mahesh Bhatt, who scripted "Murder", said sex was simply not enough for Indian audiences.
"One cannot have a skin show for two or three hours in cinema," Bhatt said. "We need to have an intense story to keep people engaged. `Murder` was a total package. It had good music and a story that people liked. A film cannot hold on sex itself and you cannot fool the audience."
After "Murder", other sex-themed movies like "Julie", the lesbian-themed "Girlfriend" and "Tauba Tauba", the story of a young college student falling for his teacher, performed well at the box office late last year.
"All these movies had some story line and large shock value. So, to that extent, it worked, but the movies made so far this year on these themes are just nude shows. Last year, nudity was new, but not now," said analyst Mehra.
What the new movies have done, however, is to bring sex scenes into mainstream Indian cinema.
"Explicit sexual scenes have become part of our films simply because our audiences have come of age," said filmmaker Deepak Shivdasani. "Roses and ducks will not do any more, audiences want the real thing."
Historically, Indian cinema had shown strong aversion to explicit sex with candyfloss romances largely depicting love scenes by way of two roses or two ducks kissing each other in a pond or a strong fire burning in the background -- a symbol of rising passions.
While the new movies are bolder, the censors have also become more liberal, Mehra said.
"The censor which traditionally was ready to chop and cut at the slightest sexy scene is now very liberal," he said.
"In the last two years, the board has passed movies with explicit scenes like “Sheesha” and others without any cuts, but (with) an adults only certificate."
The censor board gives A certificate for an adults film, UA for a film with some contents of violence or sex and a U for films meant for all audiences.
But the audience aversion to "skin flicks" continues. The latest offering, "Sins" -- which revolves around a torrid love affair between a Catholic priest and a girl -- virtually vanished from screens within a week of its release.
