The Dirty Picture, released last week, is about an actor from the Tamil film industry who gains popularity as a sex symbol, using her physical attributes and seductive charms to win over fans. The boldest aspect about the film, perhaps, is that the lead character is a woman who is unafraid to grant sexual favours in return for acting assignments, and is unabashed about it (in one scene, she propositions a star, telling him that she’d have sex with him 500 times if he offers her a film role).
But even for a self-proclaimed ‘dirty’ picture, (and the promise of sex, 500 times), truly dirty visuals are missing. With only two lovemaking scenes, both showing Vidya Balan on top of Naseeruddin Shah (one where her back is visible, another where you see her shoulders), the film never takes the task of titillation very seriously. The actors talk of doing some really dirty things to each other, but aren’t really shown doing them.
Our films have always shied away from showing actors fornicating. Earlier, a visual of two flowers coming together would suffice (now parodied ad nauseum). Later, a shot of a hairy male hand clasping a dainty female one was common. Raj Kapoor did have nudity in his films — a young, rotund Rishi Kapoor staring at his teacher (Simi Garewal) getting out of her wet clothes in Mera Naam Joker (1970) and the infamous Mandikini-bathing-under-the-waterfall sequence in Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) come to mind — but scenes showing lovemaking were rare.
In 1984 came Utsav. Shekhar Suman and Rekha indulging in some steamy action was hailed by audiences and critics alike, and the film was praised for its aesthetically-shot lovemaking scenes. Later, films like Shaque (1976), Rihaee (1988) and Aastha (1997) [among art house films], and Dayavan (1988) and Parinda (1989) [in the mainstream] showed actors having sex, but these instances were rare. There were some other attempts at ‘bedroom sequences’ but nothing memorable.
The Bhatts like it dirty
At the beginning of the last decade, Vishesh Films, run by brothers Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, tasted success with back-to-back adult thrillers, Raaz (2002), Jism (2003, produced by Mahesh’s daughter, Pooja Bhatt), and Murder (2004). Earlier, Hindi filmmakers needed purpose to show actors having sex (or to create the assumption they have already had sex, by shooting them under bed sheets and making it look like they were unclothed). Usually it was followed by the woman announcing she was pregnant.
The Bhatts sidestepped these compulsions by including one aspect in their above-mentioned films — all of them had infidelity as the theme. In an earlier interview with this writer, Mahesh Bhatt had said, “I faced brickbats for making erotic thrillers. But it was a calculated move. We never made claims like ‘it was the need of the story.’ I was clear that we wanted to titillate people.” The Bhatts ensured it wasn’t all just talk though, with plenty of scenes where the actors were shown making love. The skin show went a notch higher too.
When the Bhatt concoction of racy music and ample sex reaped benefits at the box office, other filmmakers started following suit. So much so, in the middle of the last decade, a spate of films with adult themes — among them Julie (2004), Hawas (2004) and Sheesha (2005) — started tumbling one after the other. “The Bhatts got the ball rolling. Till then, wanting to show sex in your films got you slotted as a C-grade filmmaker,” says filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. These films were, at best, adult dramas, and nowhere close to being deserving of the ‘erotic’ title, as in the case of mainstream Hollywood films like Basic Instinct, Eyes Wide Shut or 9 1/2 Weeks.
Agnihotri claims he is currently shooting “Hindi cinema’s first bonafide erotic film”. He says it took him time to convince himself to make the film, which he calls a ‘revenge drama’. “Sex is the tool for my (female) protagonist to take revenge.” Hopefully, Vivek’s protagonist will have plenty to avenge.
Full frontal in the future?
Other than the inherent shyness of Indian society — and that among actors — filmmakers who want some spice in their films have to worry about censor restrictions. Mohit Suri — a regular director for the Bhatts — made his debut with Zeher, which had some steamy scenes, in 2005. When the film went to the censors, they give him a simple, rather amusing, guideline — bring down the sex scenes by half. “They didn’t even tell me what to cut. All they said was to bring the sex scenes down to ‘50%’ of what I had shot originally.” In his last film, Murder 2 (2011), Suri got away with a lot more sex. “There were very few cuts. Also, the scenes I shot were more graphic. We are growing up.” Suri is hopeful that in the not-so-distant future, he and other filmmakers can get away with more, may be even full-frontal nudity.
But even if the censors go easy on lovemaking scenes, it’s tough to say if the scenes themselves will stand out. Vivek says it won’t happen till actors let go of inhibitions. “Everyone in our film industry has barriers. A director is scared to tell a female actor what he wants, because he isn’t sure about how she’ll react. We need to let loose (sic),” he says. Creating the right atmosphere on the set, though, is the director’s prerogative, he adds. “You might rehearse with a 100 people on set, but while shooting it’s best to have only the actors, a female assistant director, the cinematographer and the director present.”
Suri says he shoots his sex scenes last, as by then the actors are comfortable working with each other. “If my actors have already done emotional, lighthearted and dramatic scenes with each other, chances are they’ll be at ease by the time they have to get intimate.” The camera, says Suri, catches the slightest hesitation on the part of the actor, which can spell doom for a sex scene.
“It’s the only kind of scene where the actors are free to do what they want; the director has no control. I can only tell an actor that s/he has to kiss. I can’t tell him/her how to kiss.”
Director of The Dirty Picture Milan Luthria says that, in the future, a filmmaker who can balance erotica with storytelling without coming across as vulgar will make all the difference. Till then, a truly dirty picture is awaited.
g_aniruddha@dnaindia.net
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