No kissing in Anees' films!

Apparently, Arjun Kapoor and his co-star Ileana D’Cruz were all set to seal their on-screen chemistry with a kiss. But guess who put his foot down? No, not Arjun’s chacha Anil Kapoor (who is all for kissing and other intimate gestures). It was director Anees Bazmi who apparently threw a fit at the very thought of his young lovers sharing a kiss.

Anees admits he is a prude in the matter of on-screen intimacy. “The entire family watches my comedies, and the kids love my humour. I’ve a mother, a wife, sister and a daughter at home. I wouldn’t like to do anything in my films that would make me cringe in front of them. So sorry, no kissing in my films, ever, no matter what the requirement in the script. I agree with the censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani on this. We need to keep our films clean and wholesome because cinema is still a family event in our country.”

So, it’s not just Salman Khan who refuses to kiss his heroines. Director Anees Bazmi is also a puritan. No wonder the censor board gave his new comedy Mubarakan a clean chit. They singled out the film for being free of vulgarity and double meanings in the name of comedy.

Writer turned director Anees Bazmi feels comedy has been given a bad name.

“Somewhere in its journey from Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee to the present day, comedy in Bollywood has become a cheesy affair. This is why family audiences are suspicious of our comedies. They feel it might be cheap and trashy. Well, not my
comedies.”

Anees’ biggest moment of glory came when Ketan Desai, the son of the legendary movie mogul, Manmohan Desai, called up Anees to say Mubarakan reminds Ketan of his father’s films.

“That made my day. I’ve always been Manmohan Desaiji’s biggest fan. I’ve followed his rules. Let audiences have fun without offering them crudity,” he concludes.