The controversial kissing scene between Rekha and Biswajit in the 1969 film Anjana Safar is back in the spotlight as Biswajit’s daughter, actress Pallavi Chatterjee, admitted in a recent interview that what happened to Rekha was “absolutely wrong”.Now, veteran film journalist Jyothi Venkatesh has also revisited the incident, recalling what he heard about the filming.
“Director ne controversial plan ki thi”
In an interview with Hindi Rush, he recalled, “Ek ghatna to aapne zaroor padhi hogi – Biswajeet aur Rekha ka kissing scene. We waqt Rekha nayi-nayi Chennai se aayi thi… movie ka naam Anjana Safartha arrives in 7 (you), must have read the movie.Jyothi further claimed, “Maine suna ki director ne jaanbujhkar controversy khadi karne ki yojana banayi thi. Shoot shuru hone se pehle Biswajeet ke kaan mein jaakar kaha, ‘Is ladki ko lip-to-lip Kississ karna.He added, “Biswajeet ne poocha, ‘Gaal par Kiss karun?’ Lekin director ne kaha, ‘Nahin, yeh scene ka hissa hai. Lip to lip kiss karun.'” (Biswajeet asked if he should kiss her on the cheek, but the director insisted that it had to be a lip to lip kiss as part of the scene.According to Jyoti, “Iske baad Biswajeet ne waisa hi kiya aur Rekha phoot-phoot kar rone lagi. Our din ki shoot canceled ho gayi thi. Halaanki woh kissing scenes pehle hi filmaya ja chuka tha aur baad mein film mein istemaal bhi hua.” (Rekha burst into tears after Biswajit did as instructed. The day’s shoot was canceled, but the kissing scene was shot and later retained in the film.)
Pallavi Chatterjee calls incident ‘absolutely wrong’
The incident resurfaced after Pallavi Chatterjee chose not to defend his father and instead admitted that the incident was wrong. She said Biswajit should have either refused to perform the scene or ensured that Rekha’s consent was obtained beforehand. Pallavi also noted that Rekha was just a teenager at the time and was completely unprepared for the kiss, which made the experience deeply shocking and painful.Pallavi further revealed that the two families were close at that time and Rekha often visited their home during her childhood. According to her, this personal relationship could be more painful for the young actress because it involves someone she knows and trusts.Anjana Safar’s kissing scene was later released as Do Shikaari and remains one of the most controversial episodes in Bollywood history. According to some accounts of the incident, the camera kept rolling for nearly five minutes with Biswajit kissing Rekha, a scene that Rekha was allegedly not informed about beforehand. Rekha later said the experience left her feeling betrayed and exploited, while Biswajit maintained for years that he was simply following director Raja Navat’s instructions.
