Bollywood leef b'hInd the birds and the bees

After a strike between Hindi-language movie producers and multiplex owners, Indians are returning to the cinema. But some new Bollywood releases are being anticipated for a different reason -- nudity.

"New York," charting the reactions of international students in the city on September 11, 2001, opened on Friday and features actor John Abraham in the nude. Abraham's bare buttocks were seen -- briefly -- in last year's "Dostana".

Neil Nitin Mukesh, meanwhile, has stripped for the forthcoming "Jail," as has Maradona Rebello in "Pankh," causing tongues to wag, particularly in the newspaper gossip columns, despite the scenes being tame by Hollywood standards.

Add to that kissing scenes between Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in "Kambakht Ishq" and Deepika Padukone with Saif Ali Khan in "Love Aaj Kal" and Bollywood would appear to have become as steamy as the monsoon humidity.

But actors and filmmakers say that more graphic "lip-lock" scenes are simply a reflection of changing times, just as Bollywood is branching out from traditional "masala" song and dance movies to tackle more contemporary themes.

"I am a professional actor and I will do anything that a role demands," Kapoor said last week. "If there is a need for it and the script demands it, then you have to do it."

On-screen kissing in Bollywood was common until the 1940s but after Indian independence from Britain in 1947, the censor board set itself up as the new nation's moral guardian against corrupt Western influences.

In 1952, the Cinematograph Act was passed, banning so-called "indecency," including celluloid sex and nudity, purportedly to promote a greater sense of Indian national identity.

As a result, the nearest a hero could come to a heroine was an embrace.

And when it came to actual love-making, either the lights went off on screen or the shot cut to images of two bees or two flowers touching.

Veteran producer-director Mahesh Bhatt was one of the first Indian filmmakers to experiment with bolder kissing scenes in the thriller "Murder," which was one of the biggest hits of 2004.

The movie about an extra-marital affair saw Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi in a number of passionate clinches. Other films followed suit and were given an "A" certificate -- for over 18s only.

But in the last couple of years, the censors appeared to have softened, giving more films with kissing in them "U/A" -- or parental guidance -- certificates.

"We all have to change with the times," said Bhatt. "In a globalised world, you cannot hold your thoughts.

"'Murder' was about promiscuity and an extra-marital affair. It would have got an 'A' certificate anyway.

"I feel sexuality in a film will have problems (with the censors) but what we see today is many candyfloss films having some lip-lock scenes and they are getting a 'U/A' certificate. It's definitely a change."

Padukone agreed.

"If there is a kissing scene in the film then you have to show it because it is important to the script of the film. We cannot show two flowers touching each other like we used to do earlier in our films," she said.

But Vinayak Azad, regional officer at the Central Board of Film Certification, denied the censors have become more relaxed in what is still a deeply conservative society.

"I won't say that we have become more liberal but we are keeping more abreast with the times," he said.

"We have given more 'A' certificates to big, hit films like 'Race' and 'Life in a Metro' in the last two years, but then we also give 'U/A' certificates to many of them.

"We do that because we leave it up to the parents whether they want their children to watch those films or not."