CHETNA(1970): Directed by BR Ishara, the movie catapulted Rehana Sultan to instant fame in the role of a female sex worker and her subsequent rehabilitation. The movie changed the portrayal of sex workers in Hindi Cinema but Sultan was typecast and her career nosedived. The only grace was she later married the director Ishara. (Compare it with JULIE (2005))
AANDHI (1975): Directed by Gulzar, it was supposedly based on Indira Gandhi/Nehru/Feroze Gandhi’s life. It turned true to its name and raised a political storm that refused to die down and held up the release of the movie. But in reality it was inspired by Tarkeshwari Sinha, an Indian politician from Bihar. Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar excelled in the central roles. (Compare it with KISSA KURSI KA (1977))
INSAF KA TARAZU (1980): Directed by BR Chopra and remake of Lipstick (1976), the movie was a box office hit and Raj Babbar the rapist became the national sweetheart. The story about two sisters – Zeenat Aman and Padmini Kolhapure – being raped by Babbar and the subsequent court drama gave the nation new sensationalism to devour. Raj Babbar had truly arrived despite negative role.
FIRE (1996): Directed by Deepa Mehta, the movie was loosely based on Ismat Chugtai’s story Lihaf (1942). It is the first Indian movie to explicitly show homosexual relations. The movie featured Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das in a lesbian relationship. Right-wing Hindu groups led violent protests. The movie proved true to its name and could not be doused by water on earth. (Compare it with GIRLFRIEND (2004))
EK CHHOTISI LOVE STORY (2002): Directed by Shashilal K Nair, the movie is a copy of sixth part of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Dekalog ("Thou shalt not commit adultery" or 'A short film about love'). The hindi movie was about a teenager Aditya Seal (15) and his voyeuristic love (from infatuation to sexuality) for his adult nameless neighbor Manisha Koirala (26). Manisha is unaware of his love until Aditya tells her and then… (Compare it with OOPS! (2003))
KHWAHISH (2003): Directed by Govind Menon, the story is about the tragic trials and tribulations of a young Indian urban couple Himanshu Malik and Mallika Sherawat. You would say nothing controversial about that. You are right but there were 17kisses. Kissing is as old as Devika Rani kissing Himashu Rai in Karma (1933) that lasted for four minutes. It was the first on-screen kiss in Bollywood that was followed by Ruby Myers with Billimoria pair. But Mallika the new sex item girl had arrived.
BLACK FRIDAY (2004): Directed by Anurag Kashyap about the 1993 Bombay serial bomb blasts and based on S. Hussain Zaidi’s book Black Friday - The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts, the movie focused on the terror trail and its aftermath. The movie was not released for two years as a petition was filed in the court. It was an inspiration for Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
SINS(2005): Directed by Vinod Pande, the film involves a Catholic priest Shiney Ahuja sexually involved with a young woman Seema Rehmani. Christians protested the negative portrayal of Catholicism, blasphemy and indecency. The movie was certified A as it had revealing scenes and bold theme. Considering the Godmen, who are proving to be conmen today, the movie was a statement on today’s anarchy instead of being controversial. (Compare it with CHINGARI (2006))
LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA (2010): Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, the movie had three sub-plots. Acronym LSD (drug) fits it to the T. It is loosely based on the infamous 2004 DPS MMS scandal. Technology can be abused and how. This can be seen as store camera is used to record love making scene. The film has been censored a lot, a seven minute long bare back love making scene was made short and has been blurred.
IT’S A MAN’S WORLD(2010): Directed by Rishiraj Handa it says if there are female sex workers then welcome to the world of male sex workers. This is apparently the first Bollywood movie making a comment on the hitherto shooed and silent topic of male sex workers. The movie released without much publicity and died a natural death. As they say, silence is golden if not consent.
