Rekha’s controversial forced kiss with Biswajeet was a planned publicity stunt, claims senior journalist: ‘Director ne kaha tha’ | Hindi Movie News

Rekha’s controversial forced kiss with Biswajeet was a planned publicity stunt, claims a senior journalist (Image Credits: Instagram)

The controversial kissing scene between Rekha and Biswajeet from the 1969 film Anjana Safar is back in the limelight after Biswajeet’s daughter, actress Pallavi Chatterjee, admitted in a recent interview that what happened to Rekha “was definitely wrong”.Now, senior film journalist Jyothi Venkatesh also reviewed the incident, recalling what he had heard about the shooting.

‘Director ne polemica pla ki thi’

Talking to Hindi Rush, he recalled, “Ek ghatna to aapne zaroor padhi hogi—Biswajeet aur Rekha ka kissing scene. Us waqt Rekha nayi-nayi Chennai se aayi thi… film ka naam Anjana Safar tha.” (You must have read about the Biswajeet-Rekha kissing scene. Rekha had just arrived from Chennai and the film was called Anjana Safar.)Jyothi further stated, “Maine suna ki director ne jaanbujhkar controversy khadi karne ki yojana banayi thi. Shooting shuru hone se pehle Biswajeet ke kaan mein jaakar kaha, ‘Is ladki ko ladki ko lap-to-llavi kiss karna.” Biswajeet, “Kiss this girl on the lips.”He added, “Biswajeet ne poocha, ‘Gaal par kiss karun?’ Lekin director ne kaha, ‘Nahin, yeh scene ka hissa hai. Lip-to-lip kiss, karna.'” (Biswajeet asked if he should kiss her on the cheek, but the director insisted that it should be a lip-to-lip kiss as part of the scene.)According to Jyothi, “Iske baad Biswajeet ne waisa hi kiya aur Rekha phoot-phoot kar rone lagi. Us din ki shooting cancel ho gayi thi. Halaanki woh kissing shot pehle hi filmaya ja chuka tha aur baad mein film mein istemaal bhi hua.” (After Biswajeet did as instructed, Rekha broke down in tears. The shoot was canceled for the day, but the kiss shot had already been shot and was later retained in the film. )

Pallavi Chatterjee calls incident ‘definitely wrong’

The incident resurfaced after Pallavi Chatterjee chose not to defend her father and instead admitted that the episode was wrong. He said that Biswajeet should have refused to act the scene or he should have ensured that Rekha’s consent was obtained earlier. Pallavi also pointed out that Rekha was just a teenager and was completely unprepared for the kiss, which made the experience deeply shocking and traumatic.Pallavi further revealed that the two families shared a close bond at the time, with Rekha often visiting her home during childhood. According to her, this personal relationship may have made the incident even more painful for the young actress, as it involved someone she knew and trusted.Anjana Safar’s kissing scene, which was later released as Do Shikaari, has remained one of the most debated episodes in Bollywood history. According to various accounts of the incident, the camera continued to roll for nearly five minutes as Biswajeet continued to kiss Rekha, who was allegedly not informed of the scene beforehand. Rekha later said she felt betrayed and exploited by the experience, while Biswajeet maintained over the years that she was only following instructions from director Raja Nawathe.