If you are a film buff, you must have wondered at some point how kissing scenes are shot. Do the love scenes that look so real on screen require a different set of skills from actors?
Girija Oak, the Internet's new crush, might leave you a little disillusioned with her description of the “mechanical” way of filming kissing scenes.
In a recent interview with Lallantop, Girija Oak was asked to share her process of getting into the right frame of mind to convincingly romance a stranger on screen.
The Jawan actress said that many women have asked her the same question. However, shooting a kissing scene, she revealed, is a very technical process and there's no room for “true feelings.”
She explained, “The ACs are switched off so that the sound isn't disrupted, and you're constantly sweating. There's a mic attached to you, and someone is holding a hair dryer to dry off your sweat. Then someone comes and says the light is low from below, so a piece of thermocol is brought in to reflect light on your face. Another person is checking your hair. In that situation, when so many people are looking at you critically, how can you possibly romance?”
Giving a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes, Girija Oak added, “Someone once asked me how kissing on screen feels. I said it feels like kissing cardboard. There's no emotion at all—everything is mechanical. When you have to deliver a line close to the camera, it's your close-up, and the other person isn't even there. You're usually looking at the camera or the edge of a stand. I've had some lovely conversations while staring at a piece of thermocol or a black cloth.”
Who Is Girija Oak?
She is best known for her work in Marathi and Hindi cinema. Girija has appeared in several Marathi films, including Gulmohar, Lajja, and Navra Maza Bhavra, and has also featured in the Kannada film House Full.
In Bollywood, Girija Oak played Jabeen in Aamir Khan's 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par. She also appeared in Shor in the City (2010) and Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan (2023). She was one of the leads in the Sony TV show Ladies Special, which revolved around the lives of four women who travel by the Ladies Special local train in Mumbai.
The actress has also starred in several OTT projects, including Modern Love: Mumbai, 13th: Some Lessons Aren't Taught in Classrooms, and, most recently, Inspector Zende, opposite Manoj Bajpayee.
