Since Aishwarya Rai Bachchans interview with Sir David Frost, the controversy around whether Bollywood stars should share there intimacy with one another through the 'on-screen kiss' has been bought back to the surface. In her recent interview, the former Miss World spoke about how she received legal threats for her kissing scene in Dhoom 2, and in some way or the other was believed to have let down many of her fans!
Now although it is deemed as something too explicit and unacceptable for the Hindi fraternity, I can't seem to understand why Aishwarya Rai out of all celebrities was threatened by this! As much as the industry claims to be grounded in its traditional heritage and culture, the on-screen vulgarity and sexual scenes in some recent films represent these films have moved out of there eastern customs, and increasingly embraced western practices. The fact that this was the one major film in which Aishwarya shared an on-screen kiss opposite Hrithik, and was scrutinised for- is incredibly shocking!
Actors tagged as 'seriel-kissers' seem to be getting away with kissing every heroine they star opposite- left, right and centre! Emraan Hashmi hardly ever completes a Bollywood film without an intimate scene, yet his fans seem to be perfectly fine with this! On one hand we have Bollywood claiming to express its emotions and romantic gestures through the use of song and dance, and then we have Emraan who decides to step out of conventional Hindi films and snog every female actress he is up against!
Another thing I can't seem to get my head around is why the controversy still very much exists at all! I mean its almost 2013, and it's almost a decade on since Jism hit the big screens worldwide. One of the most lustful and provokative films introduced in Bollywood, in which Bipasha Basu was tagged a sex symbol. There wasn't a great deal of fuss made over her and John practically over each in every scene or so, yet somehow the 'kiss' is still a highly contested issue 10 years on! Since Jism we have seen other sexually symbolic films come and go, and almost any celebrity today, including Shah Rukh Khan have given into kissing on screen too!
The simple point I am trying to make here is that Bollywood no can longer be stereotypically referred to as a conservative and traditional industry stuck in its 'old ways'. The industry has come a long way since then, and whether you agree or disagree with this change, Bollywood is moving on with the times! It's been six years since Aishwarya appeared in Dhoom 2, and since then we have seen other actresses such as Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone and Vidya Balan go ahead with carrying out a familiar scene too. They too may claim they are uncomfortable and what not with getting close and intimate opposite their co-star, but no matter what Bollywood films don't seem to work without this strategy today. So why make the whole 'on-screen kiss' a talked about controversy in the first place?
Kin x
