From Kissing Flowers In 60s To Actors Going All Out In Movies Like Toxic, Here's How Romance Has Changed In Indian Cinema

In contemporary Bollywood films and web series, sensual scenes are abundant, leaving little to the imagination. This trend is particularly evident in romantic and horror films, even though explicit nudity is often avoided. The song "Tabaahi" from the Yash and Kiara Advani-starrer Toxic is a prime example, showcasing a passionate kiss between the two leads, which has sparked controversy among viewers.

Yash himself revealed that his wife Radhika Pandit would feel uncomfortable watching such intimate scenes, but this is not an isolated incident.

Interestingly, kissing scenes were virtually non-existent in early Bollywood films. During the 1960s, most romantic movies focused on the symbolic act of "kissing flowers," with two flowers symbolically kissing each other. This practice came to an end in the late 1960s when Raj Kapoor broke new ground in Indian cinema with films like "Bobby" (1973) and "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (1978), which featured explicit kissing scenes.

Emraan Hashmi in the early 2000s and Aamir Khan in the late 1980s and 1990s were the go-to actors for portraying the romantic kiss on screen. Khan notably kissed both Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan in different films, and Akshay Kumar has kissed several of his leading ladies over the years. However, the question of whether such scenes are necessary remains debated, with some arguing that they feel forced or gimmicky.

Interestingly, despite the Indian audience's apparent fascination with sexual content, Bollywood often fails to deliver convincingly sensual scenes. There is a growing concern that many kissing scenes in Bollywood films are gratuitous and contribute to an overall sense of vulgarity. Moreover, the presence of such scenes in films that are meant to be watched with family can be particularly uncomfortable, as audiences often squirm or pretend not to notice.

Nevertheless, the evolution of kissing scenes in Indian cinema is an intriguing topic. The first on-screen kiss in Indian cinema can be traced back to the silent film "A Throw of Dice" (1929), featuring Seeta Devi and Charu Roy. The first talkie kiss was seen in "Karma" (1933), starring Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai. It wasn't until the 1970s, with Raj Kapoor's "Bobby," that on-screen kissing became a regular occurrence in mainstream Hindi films.