Uruguayan Hollywood filmmaker Fede Alvarez, who recently directed the horror film Don’t Breathe, feels that Bollywood has all the maturity, but still holds back when it comes to showing intimacy on screen. In an interview with IANS, the director spoke of his reaction after watching a Bollywood film, whose name he doesn’t recall, and was left wondering why the two lovers didn’t kiss in the end.
“I saw it when I was studying films and getting my masters in screenwriting in Ottawa back in 2004-2005. I can’t remember the title, but it was sort of, it was like the Titanic of Bollywood. The big Bollywood love story have me fascinating that through three whole hours of just love and in the end they don’t even kiss. I am like for god’s sake, KISS!” he said.
But Alvarez also felt that not kissing may not be a demerit, especially when the story is mature enough to supersede the intimacy in the story. “What I love the most (about Bollywood) is the maturity of the story… You know just, the more you believe in your imagination and actually the beautiful stream, the better it is,” he said. “But of course I understood it and I was like ‘Oh my god, they’re so powerful and so interesting for film in general. Right? They leave audience to want it more. It’s always the audience who wants it more!” he added.
The evolution of on-screen kisses in Bollywood has come a long way from what itvwas 10 years ago, albeit still restricted. From what began with two flowers mingling in the background to symbolise sexual union, Bollywood now shows on-screen kisses between two actors without any signs of inhibitions. Interestingly, Bollywood’s first kiss happened in 1933, when Devika Rani kissed her off-screen husband, Himanshu Rai, for a full four minutes in Karma.
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While the years in between may have shown a rather restricted expression of love and desire, in addition to the Censor Board coming into existence in 1951, the 1980s somewhat resurrected kissing on-screen with Aamir Khan’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Love, Love, Love, followed by 90’s Raja Hindustani and Ishq. The 2000s saw the emergence of sobriquets such as ‘serial kisser’ made memorable by actor Emraan Hashmi, who is known for the steamy intimate scenes in his movies. Currently, with the Ranveer Singh’s Befikre garnering attention for all the ‘kissing’ posters, and with CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani opposing to the supposedly long kiss in James Bond flick Spectre on ‘sanskaari’ grounds, Bollywood still has miles to go before eyebrows stop raising.
Meanwhile, Alvarez’s film Don’t Breathe is expected to release in Indian theatres on 2 September. The film is about a group of friends who break into the house of a wealthy blind man, thinking they would get away with the perfect heist.
Feature Image Courtesy: AVClub.com