Kissing in Hindi-Urdu cinema
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The 1920s
The screen kiss was common in silent films before it became taboo shortly after the coming of the talkies. (A still from A Throw of Dice is seen alongside.)
The 1930s
1932 - Zubeida scandalised audiences with her film Zarina, in which she was scantily clad and had kissing scenes.
Karma (1933) featured one of India’s early onscreen kisses: legitimised only somewhat by the fact that heroine Devika Rani was kissing her real life husband, actor Himanshu Rai. At four minutes it probably remains the longest kissing scene in the history of Indian cinema. For the photograph see Indian cinema: 1930-39. At some stage in the 1930s, kissing was banned by the Indian censors.
The 1940s and 50s
Chaste films. No kisses
The 1960s
For whatever reason the censors had a soft corner for Raj Kapoor.
Sangam (1964) featured a kiss between a European couple in Paris, as Kapoor and Vyjantimala watched. This was the first kiss in an Indian film after kisses were censored out in the 1930s.
Mera Naam Joker (1969) had Raj Kapoor kissing Ksenia Ryabinkina. If kissing was banned in Indian cinema, why the exception for Kapoor?
1970-77
Once again, the only exception was for Raj Kapoor’s Bobby (1973), in which the debutant lead actors Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia kissed.
1978 onwards
In 1977 Raj Kapoor’s publicists announced that RK’s next film Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram would have cheesecake and kisses. In January 1978 it was announced that kissing would be permitted in Indian cinema, for the first time after around four decades. Cynics suggested that the rules were being changed for Kapoor.
Indeed, Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (1978) was the first Indian film to benefit from the change of rules, with several kisses. The rest of the film industry was taken unawares. They did not have films ready with kisses. Nor did they seem very keen to show kisses in their films.
Readers are invited to send the names of early Indian (not just Hindi-Urdu) films that had kisses to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com.
All information used will be duly acknowledged. 'Early' means 1920s to the 1940s, and then between 1978 and, say, the mid-1980s for Hindi-Urdu films. Photographs would help.
Which was the first film with a kiss in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and other Indian cinemas? Indpaedia is investigating. Your inputs will help.
The 1980s
Betaab (1983) had a fleeting kiss between Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh.
After that kissing became mainstream in Hindi-Urdu cinema, though reigning superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan refused to kiss onscreen, partly because superstars do not alienate family audiences.
Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram was not a flop, but not a success either, despite being the biggest commercial film of the year and despite the sex. The biggest hits after kissing was allowed (think Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! ) have all been squeaky clean.
The 1990s
Subhash K. Jha adds in Sentinel Assam
For all practical purposes the kiss remained taboo in Hindi films. No mainstream actor was willing to try the lip lock until in the 1990s . Dharamesh Darshan made Aamir Khan smooch Karisma Kapoor for 10 whole minutes in Raja Hindustani.
The kiss had finally arrived in mainstream cinema. And from there onwards, Dharamesh insisted on planting a kiss in all his plots. You may not have seen Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty go down the smack track in Darshan’s Dhadkan . But that’s because Akshay and Shilpa broke up before the film’s release. Their kiss was discreetly pruned out.
Yup, there’s a smooch in Darshan’s latest offering Bewafaa , though by now the kiss has lost its sting, thanks to Mallika Sherawat’s smooch claim in Khwahish two years ago followed by Murder where she set the screen a flame with her activities.
In Julie , Neha Dhupia too got boldly beautiful with co-stars Yash Tonk and Sanjay Kapoor. In her new release Sheesha, Neha goes all out with Sonu Sood. The French kisses are so French they make Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram look like a priest and a nun.
After decades of repression the on-screen kiss has reached a saturation point within two years, thanks to the excessive zeal displayed in films like Murder, Julie, Hawas and Sheesha.
Subhash K. Jha
Assamese
Mur preyoxi (2014) was the first Assamese song (video) with a kiss. The video was directed by Dipankar Kashyap
Malayalam
Chappa Kurishu (2011) was the first Malayalam film with a kissing scene.
See also
Adult content in Bengali cinema Adult content in Hindi-Urdu cinema Adult content in Kannada cinema Adult content in Malayalam cinema Adult content in Marathi cinema Adult content in Tamil cinema
Lesbian themes in Bengali films Lesbian themes in Hindi-Urdu films Lesbian themes in Malayalam cinema
Kissing in Assamese cinema // Kissing in Hindi-Urdu cinema// Kissing in Malayalam cinema// Kissing in Marathi cinema // If the hyperlink is red it means that the page is still being constructed.
Brahmachari (1938) Mera Naam Joker (1970) Mr. Singh, Mrs. Mehta Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) The Cloud Door/ Baadal Dwar Trishagni Zaroorat (1972)
