ZARA ZARA TOUCH ME? NO, THANKS
or emotional era, physical In the post Covid-19 in Bollywood could be a no-go intimate scenes
Do phool takraayenge, aur hum samajh jaayenge,” quips actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik as he conjectures how romantic and intimate scenes could rewind to the ’70s and ’80s in the post Covid-19 era. But on a serious note, considering how new rules of on-screen intimacy — emotional and physical — are being outlined across the world in these times of social distancing, “safety is more important than passionate scenes,” says Kaushik.
Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar had recently raised the topic about how the shooting of intimate scenarios in films will change after this pandemic.
And while actor Dia Mirza had a fitting reply, “Guru, the entire process of making a film is intimate!”, screenwriterdirector Hitesh Kewalya says in a country like India, where we work shoulder-to-shoulder, “it’s difficult to maintain social distancing to begin with. It won’t be easy, but we’ve to find a way”, says the Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan director.
Cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee, who is working on Gangubai Kathiawadi, believes
“physical and emotional intimate scenes can be managed” by putting the “actors, who’d be performing these scenes, in quarantine and monitoring their health before shooting, or with certain camera angles, and use of technology and visual effects”.
Actor Kunal Kemmu gives his perspective by saying since he has a two and half year old daughter at home, he would like to check into a hotel till a schedule is completed. “It would cut off the risk of my family being affected even if there are any chances. Obviously, there is no clarity as to when we will start shooting
ut production ouses are deciding n certain norms eping in mind the safety everyone,” he says. Though intimate scenes often become talking points and generate interest, trade expert Atul Mohan feels not many “actors would be ready to take the risk” of doing such scenes. “We’ll have to avoid shooting such scenes,” he adds.
Intimacy coordinator Amanda Cutting, who has worked on web series Mastram and also on an unaired prequel pilot for Game of Thrones, says that protocols have already been put in place in Spain, Australia and Italy, and India could take a cue from them. “We’ll have to look at different options. Can intimacy be done without kissing? Absolutely. An intimate moment can be two people making eye-contact or a hand touching another hand which tells a passionate love story,” she says.
Action director Sham Kaushal says that change is the law of the nature and a lot of things are going to be different when it comes to how we approach the shoots now. “We’ll have to reinvent our working style and be cautious. Also, the technology is so advanced. We can take help of VFX to show a few things.”
Censor board member and writer Mihir Bhuta says regulations from the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health, in this regard are awaited. Bhuta, who is avoiding adding group scenes in his projects, adds, “Physical intimate scenes involves two people at a time. That can be done by getting them tested and quarantining them. But that’d be difficult for over 25 people on the set.”