Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 | Last Update : 01:08 PM IST
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Kissing is no big deal
Aamir Khan-Katrina Kaif in Dhoom 3
Recently, filmmaker Karan Johar unabashedly declared his love for kissing scenes — ‘They ensure good box-office openings’. “The new generation of actors don’t shy away from kissing,” KJo points out. And you wouldn’t have to look too far to see that he is right. It was in Karan’s film Student of the Year that Alia Bhatt smooched Siddharth Malhotra. And in her debut film, no less! Even a decade ago, this was unheard of. In her soon-to-be-released film 2 States as well, Alia has locked lips with Arjun Kapoor. Karan reminds us that in earlier films, even if there were kissing scenes, they were rarely included in the promos. “It’s the new ethos. It’s wonderful!” he adds.
While kissing seems to be a Gen Y phenomenon, it’s interesting to note what the older directors have to say about it. Rakesh Roshan, whose son Hrithik created waves when he kissed Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2, says, “If kissing scenes are shown authentically, I find no reason why they should be considered vulgar. Times have changed and kissing is no longer a taboo. It has to fit into the situation too.”
Another maker of several blockbusters, Subhash Ghai agrees, “Kissing is an acknowledgement of love. Today, you are living a progressive and global lifestyle, so cinema reflects it too.” Meanwhile, parallel cinema veteran Shyam Benegal shrugs it off with, “The topic of kissing is unimportant to me. However, these scenes need to be justified. Times have changed and nothing seems weird.”
Bollywood lore has it that when Conrad Rooks was making Siddhartha with Shashi Kapoor and Simi Grewal in 1972, the actor had demanded more than what was initially agreed upon, when he was told he had to smooch his co-star! Siddharth Malhotra seems to speak for the rest of the B-town ‘brat pack’ when he says, “We are more worried about kissing correctly and making it look natural. It’s not weird if the story needs it.” Suffice is to say that we will no longer see visuals of birds and the bees or flowers bending towards each other.
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