The controversial kiss scene between Rekha and Biswajeet from the 1969 film Anjana Safar is back in the spotlight 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 revisits the incident, recalling what he heard about the shooting.
“Director has no plans for controversy”
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 might have read about the Biswajeet-Rekha kissing scene. Rekha has just arrived from Chennai and the film is called Anjana Safar. )Jyothi further admitted, “Maine suna ki director ne jaanbujhkar controversy khadi ki yojana banayi thi. Shooting shuru hone se pehle Biswajeet ke kaan mein jaakar kaha, ‘Is ladki ko lip-to-lip kiss karna.'” ‘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 asks if he should kiss her on the cheek, but the director insists 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 canceled 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 cried. The shoot was canceled for the day, but the kissing shot was filmed and later retained in the film.)
Pallavi Chatterjee calls the incident ‘definitely wrong’
The incident resurfaced after Pallavi Chatterjee chose not to defend her father and instead admitted that the episode was wrong. He says that Biswajeet should have refused to do the scene or ensure that Rekha’s consent is taken beforehand. Pallavi also notes that Rekha is still a teenager and completely unprepared for the kiss, which makes the experience shocking and painful.Pallavi further revealed that the two families had a close relationship at that time, with Rekha often visiting their home as a child. According to him, this personal relationship may have made the incident even more painful for the young actress, since it was related to someone she knows and trusts.The kiss scene from Anjana Safar, which was later released as Do Shikaari, remains one of the most debated episodes in Bollywood history. According to several accounts of the incident, the camera kept rolling for almost five minutes as Biswajeet kept kissing Rekha, who was allegedly not informed about the scene beforehand. Rekha later said she felt betrayed and taken advantage of by the experience, while Biswajeet maintained over the years that he was only following director Raja Nawathe’s instructions.