James Bond’s minute-long lip-on-lip action with two separate dames in the movie Spectre has been reduced by half by the vigilant folks at the Central Board of Film Certification. If the CBFC has its way, nobody from any race or nationality will ever kiss again in movies shown in India. So we must thank these filmmakers for having the foresight to have anticipated the Age of Pahlaj. Here is a potted list of near-kisses, liplocks, and more ever since the early heydays of kissing in the 1929 silent film A Throw of Dice and Karma in 1933.
Andaz (1949)
Suggestiveness, rather than direct action, has ruled the screen since the 1930s. For decades, lovers have restricted their ardour to their eyes. They gaze at each other passionately, melt into each other’s arms and even manage to make love with their clothes on. The hero’s lips will tour the woman’s neck and waist (erogenous zones for Indian audiences). But they will not bring their lips in contact. Will. Not.
Aradhana (1969)
Hindi filmmakers traditionally depict love-making as a necessary yet embarrassing moment of physical weakness, initiated by the man and fought off by the woman till the inevitable end. Most of these depictions are so tasteless that they are designed to make celibates out of their viewers. Then there is this tribute to the merits of foreplay – the fabulously shot one-take erotic song Roop Tera Mastana from Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana.
Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978)
Raj Kapoor’s controversial movie features Zeenat Aman and Shashi Kapoor in various interlinking poses. Raj Kapoor doesn’t stop at kissing here. Would this movie have been passed uncut today? Probably not.
Hey Ram (2000)
Before Emraan Hashmi puckered up his lips in readiness, there was Tamil thespian Kama Haasan, ever ready to roll between the sheets. Several of his movies feature intimate situations, including his own movie Hey Ram! Haasan and his wife, played by Rani Mukerji, get it on in this memorable sequence.
Bibar (2006)
Bengali cinema has its fair share of uninhibited actors and actresses willing to shed clothes and inhibitions in the service of cinema. Subrata Sen’s adaptation of Samaresh Basu’s 1965 novel Calcutta Unabashed has some heavy-duty and YouTube friendly sequences.
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014)
Shashank Khaitan’s romantic drama is proof that the current lot of stars in Hindi cinema is much more natural at kissing in particular and lovemaking in general than their seniors. This is probably why the CBFC has become extra vigilant. After years of the uncomfortable meeting of lips and awkward fumbling in the bedroom, Indian filmmakers have figured out the art of tastefully depicting lovemaking on the screen. In their seductiveness lies their demise.