Kissing in Hindi-Urdu cinema
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Revision as of 17:13, 10 November 2014
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.
You can update or correct this page, and/ or send photographs to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be duly acknowledged. |
This page is under construction It might have some references to non-Hindi cinema. If material grows, there might be separate pages on Kissing in each non-Hindi cinema
Contents |
The 1920s
The screen kiss was common in silent films before it became taboo shortly after the coming of the talkies. (A still from A Throw of Dice is seen alongside.)
The 1930s
1932 - Zubeida scandalised audiences with her film Zarina, in which she was scantily clad and had kissing scenes.
Karma (1933) featured one of India’s early onscreen kisses: legitimised only somewhat by the fact that heroine Devika Rani was kissing her real life husband, actor Himanshu Rai. At four minutes it probably remains the longest kissing scene in the history of Indian cinema. For the photograph see Indian cinema: 1930-39. At some stage in the 1930s, kissing was banned by the Indian censors.
The 1940s and 50s
Chaste films. No kisses
The 1960s
For whatever reason the censors had a soft corner for Raj Kapoor.
Sangam (1964) featured a kiss between a European couple in Paris, as Kapoor and Vyjantimala watched. This was the first kiss in an Indian film after kisses were censored out in the 1930s.
Mera Naam Joker (1969) had Raj Kapoor kissing Ksenia Ryabinkina. If kissing was banned in Indian cinema, why the exception for Kapoor? The Rekha-Biswajeet kiss (see below) never made it to the screen.
1969: GD Khosla, Rekha, Biswajeet…
Sources include
How Biswajeet brought on India's Kissing Crisis 8ate
1968-69 saw a mini-sexual revolution in India, led to a great measure by the all-powerful The Times of India group. Their thitherto-staid ' The Illustrated Weekly of India under its new editor Khushwant Singh was in the forefront. The editor of Filmfare, Karanjia was ushering in ‘artistic nudity’ in Indian cinema (Dastak, Aashad ka ek Din) through the other hat that he wore—as Chairman of the then-powerful government-owned FFC (Film Finance Corporation). The Times of India’s Hindi Dharmyug, too, started featuring cheesecake. The Times of India’s Sunday supplement used cheesecake from FFC-financed films like Dastak and Ashad ka ek din.
In 1969 the GD Khosla Committee released its Report on film censorship, and came out in support of the kiss. It stated that "kissing or nudity can't be banned unless a court of law judges it obscene." Mr Khosla was an ICS officer.
it added, “No court of law will hold that a kiss by itself, irrespective of the circumstances in which it takes place or the individuals between whom it is exchanged, is indecent or immoral. In the same way, nudity of the human form may or may not be indecent. If there is, for instance, a brief shot of a woman undressing and entering a bathing pool, as in the film The Visit, no suspicion of indecency or immorality attaches to the shot which is relevant to the story. On the other hand, there are many scenes of cabaret performances or striptease sequences in Indian as well as foreign film which are obviously introduced in order to titillate the senses and thus make the film commercially saleable. Many of these scenes would be declared obscene even by the most liberal-minded judges."~
Till then Filmistan hadone lone warrior: film comedian, B-film director and Filmfare columnist, IS Johar. Unlike the powerful Raj Kapoor, who spoke little on the issue but managed to sneak kisses into his films (mainly on the pretext that the young lady being kissed was European, not Indian), Johar would make provocative statements, threaten to make a film called The Kiss, release stills from the film (which was never exhibited commercially—that is, if it was ever completed) showing him lock his hideous lips with beauties like Sonia Sahni and Minna something.
However, in 1969 Filmistan got itself a new crusader for the noble cause of kissing on the screen—a ‘thirteen’-year-old wannabe actress called Rekha. (Pictures on this page will prove how ‘thirteen’-year-old she looked at the time.)
In 1969 breathless publicists gave out a story to the effect that while she was shooting for her first film, Anjana Safar, a kiss between leading man Biswajeet and her had been filmed. No, heavens, no, she was not a willing accomplice. Biswajeet had planted the smooch on her without warning, and had caught her unawares. We don’t want the public to think the new girl was easy, do we?
But the young lady seemed to have either enjoyed the experience so much or it was in her little ‘thirteen’-year-old mind any way that from then on Rekha became an evangelist for on-screen kissing, and gave statement after statement supporting the cause.
The cameraman of Anjana Safar was at hand, so the kiss was recorded for posterity--through the front cover of Life (Asia edition) because Indian film censors did not let it through.
The film's makers must have got some thrills from all that free publicity--but no commercial benefits. They released a badly chopped up version ten years later, in 1979, under a new name, Do Shikari, with the kiss missing. By then Rekha was a major star but Do Shikari sank without a trace. Few are even aware that such a Hatari-like African safari saga has been made in India--with washed out colours and Biswajeet playing a a brown Indiana-jones style bwana and archaeologist, with the same superior attitude towards the 'natives.'
Life's article was called 'India's Kissing Crisis,' the crisis being the combination of Rekha's statements, her photograph being kissed, the massive debate that lasted months on the Khosla committee's report recommending on-screen kissing and the sudden permissiveness in India's mainstream media.
Interestingly, 8ate informs us that 'the image posted here is now passed off as the 'Biswajeet-Rekha Kiss'. The image posted here [on this page as well] is a scan from a year 1975 issue of Film Mirror'
1970-77
Once again, the only exception was for Raj Kapoor’s Bobby (1973), in which the debutant lead actors Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia kissed.
1978 onwards
In 1977 Raj Kapoor’s publicists announced that RK’s next film Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram would have cheesecake and kisses. In January 1978 it was announced that kissing would be permitted in Indian cinema, for the first time after around four decades. Cynics suggested that the rules were being changed for Kapoor.
Indeed, Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (1978) was the first Indian film to benefit from the change of rules, with several kisses. The rest of the film industry was taken unawares. They did not have films ready with kisses.
Nor did they seem very keen to show kisses in their films. [Rachel Dwyer explains why in her article 'Why Bollywood gave the kiss a miss' reproduced elsewhere on this page.]
Readers are invited to send the names of early Indian (not just Hindi-Urdu) films that had kisses to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com.
All information used will be duly acknowledged. 'Early' means 1920s to the 1940s, and then between 1978 and, say, the mid-1980s for Hindi-Urdu films. Photographs would help.
Which was the first film with a kiss in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and other Indian cinemas? Indpaedia is investigating. Your inputs will help.
The 1980s
Betaab (1983) had a fleeting kiss between Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh.
After that kissing became mainstream in Hindi-Urdu cinema, though reigning superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan refused to kiss onscreen, partly because superstars do not alienate family audiences.
Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram was not a flop, but not a success either, despite being the biggest commercial film of the year and despite the sex. The biggest hits after kissing was allowed (think Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! ) have all been squeaky clean.
The 1990s
Subhash K. Jha adds in Sentinel Assam
For all practical purposes the kiss remained taboo in Hindi films. No mainstream actor was willing to try the lip lock until in the 1990s . Dharamesh Darshan made Aamir Khan smooch Karisma Kapoor for 10 whole minutes in Raja Hindustani.
The kiss had finally arrived in mainstream cinema. And from there onwards, Dharamesh insisted on planting a kiss in all his plots. You may not have seen Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty go down the smack track in Darshan’s Dhadkan . But that’s because Akshay and Shilpa broke up before the film’s release. Their kiss was discreetly pruned out.
Yup, there’s a smooch in Darshan’s latest offering Bewafaa , though by now the kiss has lost its sting, thanks to Mallika Sherawat’s smooch claim in Khwahish two years ago followed by Murder where she set the screen a flame with her activities.
In Julie , Neha Dhupia too got boldly beautiful with co-stars Yash Tonk and Sanjay Kapoor. In her new release Sheesha, Neha goes all out with Sonu Sood. The French kisses are so French they make Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram look like a priest and a nun.
After decades of repression the on-screen kiss has reached a saturation point within two years, thanks to the excessive zeal displayed in films like Murder, Julie, Hawas and Sheesha.
Subhash K. Jha
See also
Adult content in Bengali cinema Adult content in Hindi-Urdu cinema Adult content in Kannada cinema Adult content in Malayalam cinema Adult content in Marathi cinema Adult content in Tamil cinema
Lesbian themes in Bengali films Lesbian themes in Hindi-Urdu films Lesbian themes in Malayalam cinema
Kissing in Assamese cinema // Kissing in Hindi-Urdu cinema// Kissing in Malayalam cinema// Kissing in Marathi cinema // If the hyperlink is red it means that the page is still being constructed.
Brahmachari (1938) Mera Naam Joker (1970) Mr. Singh, Mrs. Mehta Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) The Cloud Door/ Baadal Dwar Trishagni Zaroorat (1972)
