Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | July 24, 2020

Twitter is abuzz with Anubhav Sinha quitting Bollywood. That is a big loss to the industry that is allegedly [generally] bereft of ideas and content. But the bigger loss has been that of Emraan Hashmi who announced that he too was quitting Bollywood! This happened a few hours after Sinha called it quits.

Ever since the global pandemic, there have been talks about the changes in shooting on sets and the major change has been ‘contact’. Everyone is running scared of each other, staying five feet apart! A few films have been shot online, in isolation with the actors in their own homes. Also, there have been talks between producers and directors on how they will now shoot intimate scenes.

Sources close to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity have told me that they are now going back to showing a vessel with milk spilling over while the flame underneath is on high! There are also talks of flowers bending and touching as the hero and heroine look coyly at each other. This happened in the past in films, and is good to go now.

With kisses cut off at the writing stage itself now, Emraan who is also known for his lip-locks decided enough was enough!

I’m a joking; Emraan is still around!

When it rained lip-locks…

Twenty years ago, when lip-locks became the ‘in-thing’ after the spilling over of milk in a vessel on a stove, and flowers bending to touch each other were fading out, every journalist had this staple question to the actresses: “Will you do a lip-lock on screen”?

The standard answer then was, “If the script demands it, I will.” Others said, “Yes, I will do it, provided it is aesthetically shot,” while yet others stated: “It has to be a part of the story and cannot be a random shot.”

Then, it started raining lip-locks… whether it was aesthetically shot or arbitrarily incorporated. It was Dhoom machale in Bollywood.

Here’s a random list.

• Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai: Dhoom 2
• Vidya Balan and Madhavan: Guru
• Anil Kapoor and Anjana Sukhani: Salaam-e-Ishq
• John Abraham and Vidya Balan: Salaam-e-Ishq
• Boman Irani and Shabhana Azmi: Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd
• Raima Sen and Kay Kay Menon: Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd
• Upen Patel and Tiffany Mulheron: Namastey London
• Upen Patel and Celina Jaitley: Shaka Laka Boom Boom
• Upen Patel and Kangana Ranaut: Shaka Laka Boom Boom
• Bobby Deol and Seema Rahmani: Shaka Laka Boom Boom
• Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali: Life in a Metro
• Sharman Joshi and Kangna Ranaut: Life In A Metro
• Shilpa Shetty and Shiney Ahuja: Life In A Metro
• Abhay Deol-Neha Dhupia: Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local
• Emraan Hashmi and Sayali Bhagat: The Train
• Emraan Hashmi and Geeta Basra: The Train
• Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
• Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
• Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
• Akshaye Khanna and Urvashi Sharma: Naqaab
• Gul Panag and Abhay Deol: Manorama Six Feet Under
• Imaad Shah and Smriti Mishra: Dil, Dosti Etc.
• Imaad Shah and Nikita Anand: Dil, Dosti Etc.
• Imaad Shah and Ishita Sharma Dil, Dosti Etc.
• Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur: Jab We Met
• John Abraham and Bipasha Basu: Goal
• Mrinalini Sharma and Tushar Jalota: Showbiz

The one kiss that never took place is between Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee in Tara Rum Pum although the director brought them dangerously close!

Purab Kohli and Nidhi Sunil

While Bollywood went ‘creative’ in lip-locks, there was only one actress who stood out with her intensity and conviction, twice: Vidya Balan in Guru with Madhavan and again with Arshad Warsi again in Ishquiya.

Another classily executed lip-lock was in the film Gangoobai (2013). There’s this one scene on a terrace where Purab Kholi is working out and he is upside down on a rope, at a height. Nidhi Sunil casually walks in. Showcasing their relationship, director Priya Krishnaswamy captures the mood with a gentle lip lock. Artistically done, brilliantly executed by both the actors, the kiss was woven into the moment.

Wonder what happened to Purab Kohli? The actor showed so much of promise. As for Nidhi, she packed her bags and off she went to the US after doing the rounds of production houses with empty promises and frustrating auditions. The ‘actress’ was already chosen and auditions became a farce.

Cover Pic Courtesy: therealemraan/ Instagram

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