Vishal Bhardwaj has recalled an awkward moment from his time shooting an intimate scene, revealing that an actress once asked him, “Are we going to use tongue?” The filmmaker said he then had to put the question to the male actor, making the entire situation even more uncomfortable.
Vishal Bhardwaj spoke about the experience while discussing his segment in Lust Stories 3, which stars Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth. The filmmaker also explained how the arrival of intimacy directors has made such scenes easier to handle on film sets.
Recalling the time when intimacy directors were not a regular part of shoots, the filmmaker said actors had to directly discuss details that could make everyone uncomfortable. He told Variety India, “I remember actresses coming to me and asking, ‘Sir, are we going to use tongue in this? Can you ask the male actor?' I mean, it's very odd. I did ask the actor her question. Can you imagine how awkward that would be?”
Vishal Bhardwaj said the presence of an intimacy director now takes away much of this discomfort. Calling it “incredible”, he explained that intimacy directors “make life comfortable on set” and allow filmmakers and actors to approach intimate scenes with greater ease.
The filmmaker also had another advantage while shooting his Lust Stories 3 segment – his lead actors were already comfortable with each other. Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth, who are married, played the central characters in his story.
Vishal Bhardwaj recalled that the actors' equation helped reduce the awkwardness during the shoot. He said, “They were very comfortable with each other, of course, you know, because they are husband and wife. So 50% of that awkwardness went away.”
He then shared an incident involving body doubles. For one shot, the camera was focused on Aditi's legs while Siddharth had to crawl. Doubles had been arranged for both actors, but Aditi decided she wanted to perform the shot herself.
Vishal Bhardwaj recalled, “We had doubles for both of them. So in one shot, you know, we had the camera on her legs, and Siddharth had to crawl. When Aditi saw it, she said, ‘But my legs are not so fat.'”
Aditi ultimately insisted on doing the shot herself, while Siddharth also performed his part.
Lust Stories 3 is the third instalment of Netflix's anthology franchise. The film brings together four stories directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj. It also stars Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Ali Fazal and Radhika Madan.
