A filled-out bosom or a bosom-filled with love, that is the question.

The headline is a translation of a Bangla movie's promo – Shunyo e buke – the story of Saumitra and Churni, two artistes, who meet through common friends, fall in love, brave displeased families and economic disparity and get married.

On their wedding night Saumitra is shocked to discover that Churni is flat-chested. His shock then turns to anger and hurt with him accusing Churni of ‘cheating’ him since she wore padded bras.

Padded bras, under-wired bras, rounded bras, push-up bras, diminishing bras and a plethora of other ‘specialised’ bras are all designed for one purpose: To beautify the appearance of a woman’s breasts.

As long as there are women unhappy with their breasts, there will be a market for products and procedures that remove that unhappiness. And going by given figures, there are many women unhappy with their breasts.

According to The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the United States alone had 3,99,440 women going in for breast augmentation or enhancement in 2007. Another 1,53,807 went in for a reduction in their breast size.

Those are the numbers in one country for a single year; the global figures are bigger and growing by the day.

While rising figures for breast augmentation/ reduction definitely mean more profits for the plastic/cosmetic surgery industry, do made-to-order breasts mean happier women? And why are so many women unhappy about their breasts in the first place?

Photograph: Aubade Lingerie