By Arshya Wadhwa

Abstract

Cinemas have valued the representation of intimacy in various forms, especially romance since time began. However, the ethical extent of such intimate expressions remains a conundrum. Emanating from this conundrum is the emerging role of intimacy coordinators in cinemas. With a gush of excitement around intimacy revolving intercourse in particular comes the direst requirement of consent and safety mechanisms in ensuring a mutually enjoyable cinematic experience. Here is where the birth of intimacy coordinators is to be acknowledged, understood and accepted.

The Cropping Emergence of Indian Intimacy Coordinators

SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio)  has defined intimacy coordinators as: “an advocate, a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.” The nascent field of intimacy coordination in cinema has sparked a sense of virality in the industry. From TV shows such as Bridgerton and Euphoria, to Bollywood’s adoption of intimacy coordinators in films like Gehraayian has picked its pace. With an evolving landscape in the entertainment industry, the growth of intimacy coordination is gaining its ground for multiple reasons. One of the most important reasons for investing in intimacy coordinators (hereinafter referred to as “IC”) is to maintain safety and dignity between the actors performing the said intimate scenes. The main job of ICs is to maintain a decorum wherein intimate scenes are directed with the utmost professionalism, fostering an environment of comfort and safety. This entails having open communication, establishing mutual respect, informed consent and so on. The wake of the MeToo movement in Bollywood opened doors to the conversation of intimacy coordination in order to ensure that no woman in the future would have to suffer through inappropriate advances by their male co-workers. 

India’s first officially certified IC, Astha Khanna has deliberated on the role of ICs and their importance in the film industry in detail. Aastha Khanna’s experience in the industry as an assistant director for years coupled with her curiosity about how the West managed to crack the code of ensuring natural intimate scenes in their shows and movies moved her to do a course under the Intimacy Professionals Association (IPA). She acknowledged the fact that the role of ICs had sprung out of the MeToo movement majorly in order to ensure that moving forward, the parties involved in filmmaking are on the right side of the law by safeguarding production while shooting intimate scenes on film sets. Khanna also addresses the intricate job profile of an IC and what they must deal with in totality; this includes a plethora of training wherein the IC along with helping in direction is a bystander for interventions and mental trauma relief. In addition to this, Khanna also elaborated on the gender dynamics of handling intimate scenes as a coordinator. She expressed herself by dictating that while maintaining consent and boundaries for various intimate scenes, the support to all genders has to be given equally. Her gender-neutral approach toward intimacy coordination is a relevant factor to understand as our social constructs usually  blindside us toward the consent of men. She also suggested the presence of an advocate on the film sets while shooting such scenes.

Although the MeToo movement furthered the discussion and involvement of ICs in the game, Bollywood has witnessed reluctance toward intimacy since time immemorial. Performers have had trouble grappling intimacy on screen especially with respect to stimulated sexual acts which can involve kissing etc. On streaming platforms such as Netflix and so on, the visibility of sex scenes is being normalised as opposed to the olden days wherein this was disdained. Moreover, performers such as Pooja Bhatt have stated that preferences of how having an IC on film sets makes the entire process smoother. Another actress, Anjali Sivaraman expressed her opinion on how having Aastha Khanna on the set as an IC made her feel more comfortable as certain kissing scenes with a male actor she had just met had to be shot. Another interesting example of how Aastha Khanna explains certain scenes are to be shot was through her experience in the Netflix show “Class”. Herein, she explained the usage of prosthetics and props while showing scenes involving nudity as she does not support for the performers to be completely nude in any scene of such nature . Moreover, she also threw light on the fact that before the inception of ICs, directors would leave the actors to figure out the intimate scenes. She also mentioned certain instances wherein actors would kiss another actor without prior consent.

Thus, these were some instances wherein the importance and knowledge of intimacy coordination were extrapolated through lived experiences. Given the taboo around sex in general, intimacy involving sexual stimulation in movies is viewed with embarrassment, disgust and cultural inappropriateness. Due to such deep-rooted subconscious beliefs, intimacy on screen has been shown superficially without understanding its intricacies. Moreover, during the conversation around intimacy, the first jumped upon thought is physical intimacy translating to intercourse. However, intimacy entails a much wider ambit going beyond physicality such as the emotional chemistry, scenes involving childbirth, excess touching of a parent character with a minor, any stories revolving around abuse, perspectives and narratives of LGBTQIA+ communities etc. Hence, keeping in gender sensitivity as well as what can be societally acceptable must be adhered to by professionalism and ethics. Since this cannot be done in isolation, it is essentially incumbent to understand and dissect the complexities of intimacy and desire and where the entertainment industry has been going wrong with its representations.

Significance of Desire and Intimacy: Exploring Gender Dynamics and Intimate Experiences

In relatively conservative cultures wherein the discussion on sexual activities is looked down upon, the visible showcasing of such acts becomes even more distasteful for the majority. For the longest time, Bollywood has veiled intercourse – related intercourse related scenes under passive sex scenes such as the overextended “suhaag raat” scenes or the sunflower as a euphemism for kissing- to name a few infamous ones. Moreover, recognising that sex is something that actually sells especially among male audiences, the advent of item songs and choreographies began. Nonetheless, these portrayals may have worsened the currently skewed representation of what sex and intimacy entail. The reason why these skewed representations are problematic is because they have an intention to sell steamy content without actually having to show it in its entirety. This usually goes terribly wrong as it fails to show the reality behind sex, and it misses out on some crucial and sensitive aspects that are necessary to address. Some examples of these are expressions of love, active communication between parties involved and the dialogue around contraception. Most scenes are random representations of actors being shown half – naked under sheets and then waking up the morning after with an assumption in the audiences’ mind about what ‘might’ have happened. These repetitive scenes showing a morbid idea of sexual desire in Bollywood have left generations entangled in the silence around expressions of love, intimacy and desire.

Showing intimacy in films and shows is undoubtedly complex and awkward, that is because sexual desire in particular is in itself a complicated set of emotions at play. However, if these are not directed and thus shot properly, it opens an unfortunate pathway to sexual harassment where unfortunately women are the foremost victims, as viewed in the MeToo movement.

Nonetheless, the censor board i.e. the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in India has particularly perpetuated an intolerant attitude towards permitting sexual scenes. The fact that the CBFC has been so reluctant, it becomes difficult for directors and producers to make efforts into intimate scenes as deep down they know the repercussions. Some instances of these can be traced back to the time when Pahlaj Nihalani’s tenure saw the controversial cutting of scenes in movies such as “Lipstick Under My Burkha” and the use of the word ‘intercourse’ which was not permitted by him in the movie “Jab Harry Met Sejal”. Such intrinsic and traditional attitudes emanating from maintaining a woman’s chastity and thus forbidding nudity or having a societal mindset to contain leads to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes even more. Although we have come past those times now and the emergence of OTT platforms has made it simpler for those movies and shows to showcase intimate scenes with minimal to nil censorship nevertheless, due to the increase in acceptance and tolerance of such intimate portrayals, it becomes even more relevant to discuss the position of ICs and how their roles can be legally adjusted between dilemmas arising from budgetary restraints, legal impediments and creative expressions.

The Current Infamous Cinematic Developments: Emphasis on Legal Boundaries and Consent

The producer, Prerna Arora, has been acclaimed as the first ones to include clauses pertaining to ICs in formal legal agreements. Her reasoning for finally doing something like this was to ensure professionalism and accountability. This instance is one mentionable stepping stone in the industry and Bollywood still has a long way to go.

The developments abroad pertaining to the inclusion of intimacy coordinators have significantly grown in the United States. SAG-AFTRA  is one such body in the United States which has established guidelines and protocols for ICs. The guidelines are mentioned in detail wherein the aspiring IC also has to comply with certain qualifications and pre-registry requirements. The main idea behind building such an association was to ensure that performers of the explicit scenes get a fair chance to communicate the scenes with the ICs before filming and gaining an idea of what they are getting into ensuring mutual consent and boundaries. Moreover, the SAG-AFTRA has emphasised on anti-harassment protocols as well and developed a safe space on their web portal for reporting any form of harassment that occurred on the film sets.

In India, the law has remained relatively quiet on the aspect of inclusion of ICs in a particular legislation. Moreover, the recently released Hema Committee Report revealed shocking instances of the treatment of female professionals on the film sets of the Malayalam film industry. This report is a wake-up call of the power dynamics pertaining to gender that still persist in film industries. Given the multiple revelations of sexual abuse faced by female professionals by their male counterparts in the report, the concerning aspect of how intimacy should be protected on film sets becomes socially and legally relevant to discuss. The Indian Cinematograph Act, 1952 is the only existing legislation regulating the certification of films and since cinema is still functioning even with the upcoming OTT platforms, the Act must be amended whilst considering the official involvement of ICs as a part of the film crew. Moreover, since OTT platforms have gained more ground in including sexual expressions, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has time and again stepped its boundaries into regulating their content as well. The primary legislation that OTT platforms have to comply with is the Information Technology Act, 2000 (the IT  Act) and its rules. Additionally, The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Rules 1994 also apply to OTT platforms given its TV – like content. Thus, the legislations mentioned above need an urgent clarity on definitions of ICs, roles and responsibilities of ICs, protocols to be adopted by ICs, and so on. Due to the rise in ICs in Indian film industries, the need for legislative recognition also increases as it is a fairly upcoming profession with vague ideas as to how it is to be conducted. Moreover, there should be a pre-legislative suggestive framework to be established to take into consideration what the stakeholders are in need of and this should definitely include the opinions and suggestions of the ICs themselves.

Author’s Bio

Arshya Wadhwa is a law student in her second year of LL.B (Hons.). She is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner, she loves to read, and she adores watching stand-up comedy.