Pucker Up, Bollywood: A Century of Kisses That Shook the Screen

In a conservative film industry where flowers brushing, coy glances and subtle metaphors once stood in for romantic intimacy, the Bollywood kiss has had a slow but passionate evolution across the decades. From onscreen smooches being banned to the floodgates finally opening, kissing in Hindi cinema has resulted in many memorable moments, including awkwardness when watching with elders in the family. As the world puckers up for the forthcoming Christmas and holiday season, Eastern Eye looks back at some attention grabbing kisses that pushed boundaries, broke taboos, and sparked a media frenzy.

Bollywood On Screen Kiss Evolution Bollywood On Screen Kiss Evolution

• Pati Bhakti (1922): The smash hit silent movie headlined by Patience Cooper featured one of Indian cinema’s earliest kisses. Kissing wasn’t the film’s only talking point, as some demanded a sexy suggestive dance scene be removed. It was a silent film that wasn’t shy and made noise with daring scenes.
• Karma (1933): Real life couple Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai delivered an epically long kiss during a conservative era. Although that kiss has become legendary, in the movie itself it wasn’t raw passion, but the heroine trying to draw out poison after he has been bitten by a snake. Kissing was completely banned from Bollywood shortly after and onscreen smooches wouldn’t reappear until decades later.

Karma

• Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978): When this romantic drama released kissing, sensuality and nudity was outlawed in Hindi cinema. But producer/director Raj Kapoor somehow got seriously steamy scenes past the censor board including kissing between lead stars Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman. The controversy causing movie ultimately ended up breaking a lot of Bollywood shackles, including smooching onscreen.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram

• Saagar (1985): A teenage Dimple Kapadia retired after her debut film, Bobby (1973), opposite Rishi Kapoor released and became a huge hit. She reunited with the actor after her comeback, and they shared kisses. One of these was edited out of the final film and became popular after footage of it re-emerged including on YouTube.
• Dayavan (1988): Although the intimate scene sent temperatures soaring in cinemas, it is now remembered for all the wrong reasons. A very young Madhuri Dixit expressed regret doing this controversial kissing scene with Vinod Khanna, who was 21 years older than her. It later emerged that she was pressured into doing the scene and reported that Khanna got so carried away that he didn’t stop after the shot was over, making her lips bleed.
• Raja Hindustani (1996): This romantic musical is largely remembered for great songs and a never-ending kiss, set against the rain-soaked backdrop. Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor didn’t hold back as they locked lips for a record-breaking time in a Bollywood movie. That kiss stirred a mix of scandal and stunning box office success. It was perhaps the first time a mainstream Hindi film dared to show a kiss so unabashedly.

Raja Hindustani

• Murder (2004): Passionately locking lips with Mallika Sherawat in this erotic thriller kick-started a trend for Emraan Hashmi, which saw him do the same in his subsequent films. It would practically define the early part of Hashmi’s career and earned him the nickname ‘serial kisser’. No movie of his was complete in during that phase without at least one torrid snog with a Bollywood beauty.

Murder

• Dhoom 2 (2006): Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan were widely regarded as the two sexiest Bollywood stars of the new millennium, so when they kissed it not surprisingly sent temperatures soaring. The actress, who had turned down major Hollywood films because she wasn’t willing to do kissing scenes, later revealed that she received legal notices from some people who thought she was setting a bad example.

Dhoom 2

• Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012): He may have been crowned the king of romance, but Shah Rukh Khan famously refrained from doing any kissing onscreen during his stardom and finally broke that rule in Yash Chopra’s final film as a director. That passion filled lip-lock with Katrina Kaif, which was both shocking and thrilling for audiences in equal measure, saw him shed an old inhibition.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

• Bombay Talkies (2013): The anthology consisted of four short stories delivered by different directors. It included the Karan Johar directed same-sex relationship drama Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, which included a male kiss between Saqib Saleem and Randeep Hooda. That raw, honest and powerful moment challenged long-held conventions and sparked important conversations about LGBTQ+ representation in Indian cinema.

Bombay Talkies

• Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013): Although they had more smooches onscreen in 2015 film Tamasha, this particular kiss between Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor in the hit romantic musical resonated with audiences. Apart from being a beautiful scene where friendship flourishes into special more, it was the first kiss the former flames shared since their real life break-up.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

• Darlings (2022): This black comedy had a refreshing kissing scene decidedly different to others because it featured an older woman (Shefali Shah) kissing a much younger man (Roshan Matthew). It wasn’t flashy but earned attention for breaking stereotype walls in an ageist industry where older men are consistently kissing much younger women onscreen.

What was once considered taboo has now become just another expression of love, desire, or even heartbreak in Hindi cinema. But Bollywood still walks a fine line between cultural expectations and creative freedom. While kisses no longer guarantee controversy, they still grab attention, especially when they carry emotional weight or challenge social norms. So, this World Kissing Day, rewatch one of these unforgettable moments or perhaps just steal a kiss from someone you love.