The kiss 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 has recounted the incident, recalling what he heard about the shooting.
‘Director ne controversy plan ki thi’
Speaking 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 titled Anjana Safar.)Jyothi went on to say, “Maine suna ki director ne jaanbujhkar controversy khadi karne ki yojana banayi thi. Shooting shuru hone se pehle Biswajeet ke kaan meinjakar kaha, ‘Is ladki ko lip-to-lip kiss karna.'” lips.’)He added, “Biswajeet ne poocha, ‘Gaal par kiss karun?’ Lekin director ne kaha, ‘Nahin, yeh scene ka hissa hai. Lip kiss karna.’” (Biswajeet asked if he could kiss her on the cheek, but the director insisted that there 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.” (When Biswajeet did as he was told, Rekha burst into tears. The shoot was canceled for the day, but the kissing shot had already been filmed and was later kept in the film.)
Pallavi Chatterjee calls the incident ‘absolutely wrong’
The incident resumed after Pallavi Chatterjee chose not to defend her father and instead admitted that the story was wrong. He said that Biswajeet should have refused to take part in the incident or ensured that Rekha’s consent was taken beforehand. Pallavi also pointed out that Rekha was young and not ready to kiss, which made it both confusing and upsetting.Pallavi also revealed that the two families were very close at the time, and Rekha would often visit their home as a child. According to him, that relationship may have made the incident even more painful for the young actor, because it involved someone he knew and trusted.Anjana Safar’s kiss, which was later released as Do Shikaari, remains one of the most controversial scenes in Bollywood history. According to several accounts of the incident, the camera continued to roll for about five minutes as Biswajeet continued to kiss Rekha, who was allegedly not informed about the incident. Rekha later said she felt betrayed and humiliated by the experience, while Biswajeet insisted over the years that he was only following director Raja Nawathe’s instructions.