Tamannaah says male actors are far more ‘uncomfortable’ with intimate scenes; Bhumi Pednekar reacts in shock at being told media would be invited to watch

Actors Tamannaah Bhatia, Rakul Preet Singh, Huma Qureshi, Alaya F and Bhumi Pednekar opened up about shooting intimate scenes in films, the presence of intimacy co-ordinators, and the constant barrage of questions they are normally subjected to. While Bhumi talked about her intimate scene with Neil Bhoopalam in the 2018 Netflix anthology Lust Stories, Tamannaah said that male actor are far more awkward than the women while shooting such scenes.

Speaking at a roundtable interview moderated by Bollywood Hungama, Huma noted that there is always a sense of nervousness and discomfort before an intimate scene is shot, to which Tamannaah answered, “I have seen more men being uncomfortable or being awkward with intimate scenes. It’s basically about understanding that actors are just human, it’s not about men or women. Sometimes guys are a lot more shy and they’re a lot more worried about how the woman is going to feel.” The host then added that back in the day, the media would be invited to come and watch such scenes being shot and Bhumi said, “That is so exploitative.” She also added that she would be constantly flooded with questions about the kissing scenes.

Rakul mentioned that the whole process is ‘mechanical’, and that sometimes she is just ‘counting seconds’. Bhumi explained that when she did Lust Stories, she had a ‘full throttle’ sex scene with Neil Bhoopalam and she was rather nervous about going through it. She addressed the sensitivity that director Zoya Akhtar showed, adding that she had a conversation with Neil about boundaries. Huma Qureshi recalled her rape scene from Badlapur and how she was a ‘wreck’ before filming it. She added that her hands were ‘shaking’ at the end of the day.