ROOPA GANGULY

I recently rejected a film because it had frontal nudity. Not because of any mental block but because the director didn’t discuss the scene with me

I never felt exploited but I recently rejected a film offered to me by BBC because it had frontal nudity. I didn’t reject it because of any mental block. But I had expected that at least the director would come and speak to me. Frontal nudity can be shown in various ways... by using a bodysuit in silhouette.... But these are things I wanted to discuss with the director. So I let go of the project even if the role was very good.

I have done very, very bold scenes in Ritu’s (Rituparno Ghosh) Antarmahal (picture above). I had no issues during the menstruation scene because I had full faith in Ritu’s aesthetic sense. In fact I had lifted the sari a little more to show my legs so that the scene turned out real! But in the script Ritu had included a scene where I had to go topless. When Ritu told me about it, I said, ‘no I can’t do it’. He tried to convince me that it was very important, but I wasn’t sure. See, going topless or showing skin alone doesn’t mean you are brave or bold. Ritu wanted to use a body double but later he dropped the scene. Of course, there was the bare-back scene which I did.

We actors live different characters, you know. Once you empathise with a character, you become the character and then you are ready to do everything. I don’t have inhibitions, but I need to feel convinced about the role as an actress.

But then directors taking advantage of actors is nothing uncommon in the industry! I have never faced it.

RAIMA SEN

An actress might shed her inhibitions for a director she trusts completely. I would simply walk out of the sets if I thought I was being exploited

I did my first intimate scene in Mirch (2010). A making-out scene with Arunoday Singh (picture above). But I was very comfortable as I had worked with the director Vinay Shukla in Godmother, my first film. He was like a father figure to me. He was more conscious than I was....

I think it’s about you and what signals you send to the people. A lot depends on that. Whether a director wants to take advantage of you during intimate sequences depends on whether you make yourself available. Besides, I won’t shoot an intimate scene for every director. I have to be sure of his work, only then will I consider it. With Rituparno Ghosh, it was different because I was well aware of his aesthetic sense. I would completely depend on his instructions. You know, the director-actress equation is very important. An actress might shed her inhibitions for a director she trusts completely. But there’s no question of exploitation.

Actresses today have the power to put men behind bars for unwarranted attention. I would simply walk out of the sets if I thought I was being exploited. It’s my choice. Maybe directors in Bombay are more forthright in explaining intimate scenes than the directors here. But my directors have always made me comfortable. Always.

Paoli in Hate Story

PAOLI DAM

You must never cease to be an actor while doing intimate scenes

If the script demands, I have no qualms about doing intimate scenes. I have said this several times. But the scene has to gel well with the rest of the story. I think Bengali films have come a long way and we do have a realistic approach to it. I have never felt exploited because obviously I have worked with directors who’ve shot such scenes earlier and were not experimenting with me.

I don’t make a big deal about doing intimate scenes because for me it is part of cinema, the kind of cinema I do or want to do. So if I am comfortable doing any other scene, why should I shy away from the intimate ones? They are part of the script.

One should never cease to be an actor during the intimate scenes. If I don’t have a problem playing somebody’s wife or girlfriend on screen, why should I have a problem going to bed with him? I look at it that way. And there is no question of exploitation. I have been in the industry long enough. All the films I have done so far have been my choice and I regret none.

SWASTIKA MUKHERJEE

Directors in Tollywood have more inhibitions than actors

Most directors in Tollywood cannot handle sex scenes on screen. They are very inhibited. When Joy (Sengupta) and I were shooting the intimate scenes in Tobe Tai Hok (picture right), our director Saugata Ray Burman’s only words were ‘Do it your way’! Now what does that mean? I may do it differently, while my co-actor may do it differently. They don’t even explain the scenes. Plus, there’s the fear of the censor board, so one cannot show intimacy apart from a kiss on the neck!

Most new directors come to me with scripts that have at least five bed scenes. An actress needs to differentiate between raunchy and aesthetically shot sex scenes. I reject those at the script level. A new director (Subhobrato Chatterjee) approached me for a film (Monihara) where he wanted to shoot a bed scene on the first day and that too where the producer (Arghyadeep Chatterjee) was the actor! I created a huge ruckus over it and I came to know that those scenes are not even there in the film now.

But Mainak (Bhaumik) has pushed the boundaries in Take One (yet to release). Since we were dealing with a controversy (referring to Chatrak, starring Paoli Dam who shot nude for an intimate scene).... I had done an intimate scene in a classroom with Anubrata in Aami Aar Amaar Girlfriends which was censored....

The one intimate scene that stands out in my memory and which was technically very ahead of its time was the one involving Debasree Roy and Dhritiman Chaterji in (Aparna Sen’s) 36 Chowringhee Lane.

Rituparna and Unnati in 3 Kanya

RITUPARNA SENGUPTA

I have shot many intimate scenes in films but I know my limits

I try and go by what the director says most of the time but yes, because of my experience, I do exchange ideas sometimes, with my directors and also co-stars. But the director has the ultimate say.

I have shot many intimate scenes in films but I know my limits. I have a family and kids back home. So though I give my 100 per cent to such scenes, there are certain things that I won’t do, like a lip-lock. I am not very comfortable with it and that’s because I have not found myself very comfortable while watching those scenes as a member of the audience.

In Charuulata 2011, I had a few very sensuous scenes, from making out to showing my lingerie. But since the subject of the film was about a lonely housewife who gets an outlet of sorts when she meets a young guy, I thought those scenes were pivotal to the film. And since it was done aesthetically, I was okay.

It depends on the team I am working with. I will never be comfortable in a first-time director’s team. And though I mostly do these scenes in Agni’s (Agnidev Chatterjee) films, I always add or omit a few scenes keeping my comfort level in mind.

MAINAK BHAUMIK

The trick to shoot a bold scene is to make it funny

I will never shoot bold scenes if my actors are not comfortable. Because discomfort shows on screen. All my bold scenes are very well-discussed. Like there’s a making out scene between Swastika (Mukherjee) and Paoli (Dam) in Family Album and Paoli was a little uncomfortable because she was thinking too much that she had to smooch and get cosy with a girl. But after a little discussion, she was okay. I told her, ‘Don’t pay too much heed to the fact that she is a girl.’

I am not willing to shoot a sex scene if it doesn’t come naturally to my actors. And during such scenes I try to keep the environment very clinical. I plan and re-plan and try to make it very technical so that my actors feel that it’s just another scene that they have to do.

There are times when they aren’t comfortable and then I tweak the scene a little. It’s not a major compromise on the director’s part. Actors like Swastika, Anubrata and Paoli, I know won’t be uncomfortable. So at the back of my mind, when I am writing the script, I write according to the cast. Most of the actors I have worked with don’t have issues. They are willing and they know I am not taking it to a point where it’s going to get dirty. Bold scenes, more than art, is a reality for me. There lies the difference.

During the three girls changing scene in Aami Aar Amaar Girlfriends, my camera didn’t behave derogatorily. The scene was funny. I approached it as any other scene, so it didn’t turn vulgar. It was about three girls changing and getting ready and making fun of each other. The point of the scene was not about them undressing, the focus was three girls changing together. I was highlighting their friendship, and not Swastika’s undergarment. Actors should be explained the purpose of a scene. There are certain movies where the actress comes out of the bathroom and there’s a close shot of her legs and the towel drops. These scenes are visually vulgar, meant to titillate even though they show nothing.

Q

For Gandu, I just told my actors Anubrata and Rii that Gandu has to get superf****d in one scene.

They did the rest

If the actresses and the director of Blue is the Warmest Colour have agreed to do something together, and it is art that they strive to arrive at, anything and everything may happen. The very idea of comfort within the process of crafting is

contradictory to the way art can be practised. The practice of art is about going beyond all comfort zones and challenging the idea of the holy. Art is subjective. Most art has and will continue to offend people. That’s the reason for it to exist. If you ask me when the director is crossing the line, I would say it depends on the socio-political space the director is coming from and the legal systems in place. For Gandu, I just told my actors Anubrata and Rii that Gandu has to get superf****d in one scene. They did the rest. The reality of the situation created the intensity required for the scene.

AGNIDEV CHATTERJEE

I categorically tell my actors what I want

I am very straightforward when it comes to bold scenes in my films. I categorically tell my actors what I want and since you’ve signed the contract you have to do it. I also give them a reference point. We do rehearsals and show them the scene with a stand-in artiste. Of course, I don’t blackmail my actors because then they won’t be comfortable.

Actresses here are very inhibited, that’s why for 3 Kanya I had to cast Unnati Davara from Bombay. I had approached a few actresses here but when I told them that there’s a lesbian love-making scene, they backed out. Rituparna is very comfortable in my films with bold scenes, her only objection is to a lip-lock and I have respected that. I try to make up for it by making a romantic scene very sensuous and sexual. That’s why in Mrs Sen I decided that Hrishitaa Bhaat and Rohit Roy should have a lip-lock. I make it very easy for my actors while shooting intimate sequences. I crack jokes and tell them, ‘Look, this is just another normal scene in the film!’