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''IT WAS only 25 years ago that you couldn't show a kiss on screen in Bollywood,'' Pankaj Kothari, who runs a talent management agency in Mumbai, said. ''They would show two flowers 'kissing' instead. If the director wanted to suggest a sex scene, they would include a shot of a bedside lamp going dark.''
How things change. On Friday one of the most hotly awaited films in years opened in India. Its selling point: raunch. And lots of it.
Jism 2 has garnered press interest after Canadian-Indian porn star Sunny Leone was chosen as the female lead. She rose to prominence after starring in Bigg Boss, India's answer to Big Brother. Jism, incidentally, means ''body'' in Hindi. The film's publicity manager seemed genuinely surprised to be told of jism's less savoury meaning (semen) in English slang.
Leone had to learn Hindi for the film but didn't have to dig too deep to research her character: she plays a porn actor recruited by the intelligence agencies to lure an assassin with her charms. The film is due to open this weekend at 1300 screens with the equivalent of an 18 certificate. But is India ready?
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Manish Dubey, the editor at the Bollywood channel UTV Stars, thinks so. ''We are now moving towards bold acts which include lovemaking scenes, going semi-nude and bold dialogues,'' he said, adding: ''Nothing can be deemed 'shocking' for today's audience.''
However, even before its release, the film has proved too much in some parts of India. On Tuesday activists in Punjab burned effigies of Leone and the female director, Pooja Bhatt - who, in her previous life as an actor, was one of the first Bollywood stars to kiss on screen. In Mumbai, the mayor has ordered the film's posters removed from municipal buses.
Bhatt wasn't surprised by the furore. ''We're obsessed with sex, but in a very repressive way. I blame the Victorians. I thank the Brits for our railways but not for the puritanical view of sex they left behind.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bollywoo...#ixzz22fjrc4x5
How things change. On Friday one of the most hotly awaited films in years opened in India. Its selling point: raunch. And lots of it.
Jism 2 has garnered press interest after Canadian-Indian porn star Sunny Leone was chosen as the female lead. She rose to prominence after starring in Bigg Boss, India's answer to Big Brother. Jism, incidentally, means ''body'' in Hindi. The film's publicity manager seemed genuinely surprised to be told of jism's less savoury meaning (semen) in English slang.
Leone had to learn Hindi for the film but didn't have to dig too deep to research her character: she plays a porn actor recruited by the intelligence agencies to lure an assassin with her charms. The film is due to open this weekend at 1300 screens with the equivalent of an 18 certificate. But is India ready?
Advertisement
Manish Dubey, the editor at the Bollywood channel UTV Stars, thinks so. ''We are now moving towards bold acts which include lovemaking scenes, going semi-nude and bold dialogues,'' he said, adding: ''Nothing can be deemed 'shocking' for today's audience.''
However, even before its release, the film has proved too much in some parts of India. On Tuesday activists in Punjab burned effigies of Leone and the female director, Pooja Bhatt - who, in her previous life as an actor, was one of the first Bollywood stars to kiss on screen. In Mumbai, the mayor has ordered the film's posters removed from municipal buses.
Bhatt wasn't surprised by the furore. ''We're obsessed with sex, but in a very repressive way. I blame the Victorians. I thank the Brits for our railways but not for the puritanical view of sex they left behind.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bollywoo...#ixzz22fjrc4x5
they lost their honour with these semi-naked actresses
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