MUMBAI, Oct 21 — India’s film industry, where scenes featuring nudity or sex often rely on improvisation and mutual trust, is gradually welcoming professionals tasked with choreographing intimacy to protect actors and ensure consent.
Once unheard-of in Bollywood, intimacy coordinators are becoming an increasingly familiar presence on sets as filmmakers embrace stricter standards after the #MeToo movement put a spotlight on sexual exploitation in entertainment industries around the world.
The shift comes as streaming platforms have pushed storytelling into a more nuanced territory, creating greater demand for realistic portrayals of sexuality.
“Just like a stunt director handles a fight scene... for scenes of intimacy, we map out exactly where the hand goes and where the hair goes so nothing is left to awkward improvisation,” said Aastha Khanna, one of a small but growing group of intimacy coordinators in Bollywood.
