Hot Shorts! Watch Nikita Dutta Shine

Shorts have been rebranded. Reborn. Reincarnated.

They are no longer ill-fitting. Or that sloppy, oversized and shapeless 'half pant' or 'knickers' gangly schoolboys and traffic cops once wore.

It's time you stopped looking at this quintessential summer staple as sad sack stuff for sweaty gym trips or balmy beach visits.

Go shopping for an attractive, stylish pair or two and put good money down, girls -- they are one of the most bodacious items in your wardrobe, barring a skimpy swimsuit.

It's an easy fashion thumb rule: If a woman looks great in a pair of shorts, she can carry just about anything.

Nikita Dutta, model and actor and one of the finalists at the 2012 Femina Miss India beauty pageant, lives in shorts, morning, noon and night. She can even demonstrate how to wear a formal pair in a boardroom and outdo The Suits.

She stepped into Bollywood with a supporting role in romantic drama Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, and later went ahead to make her television with Dream Girl.

She was also a part of television shows like Ek Duje Ke Vaaste and Haasil, which won her a Lions Gold Award, and was recently seen in the Netflix series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter.

We give her the Best Dressed Lass In Shorts Award.

IMAGE: Checks and balances: She ditches trousers for two-tone cotton shorts, matching blazer and lace bustier that can bring sizzle and crackle to any boardroom. And change the day's agenda and scramble the meeting minutes.
All photographs: Kind courtesy Nikita Dutta/Instagram

IMAGE: She could have stepped out of a Van Gogh canvas in her outfit of lively sunflower shorts and halter, that celebrates shades of yellow and burnt orange. She's Retro Vibes Inc.

IMAGE: The Dream Girl who took a chill pill: Nikita's cutie-pie flower co-ord set is not the best protection on a sunny day but she's definitely got a place in the sun.

IMAGE: That flouncy, flowy top, made from several metres of long pleats, could have been a great match for jeans or a short skirt. But how much more picturesque does Nikita look in it with shorts. That's the long and short of it.