The key facts

  • Intimacy coordinators choreograph scenes and monitor actors' consent; the practice took hold after 'Gehraiyaan' (2022, Amazon Prime Video).
  • Streaming is the main driver of change; in commercial blockbusters there is almost no demand.
  • There are slightly more than a dozen specialists in India, and no formal requirements for hiring them exist.

A new profession on Bollywood sets

In the Indian film industry, where scenes involving nudity or sex were traditionally built on improvisation and mutual trust, professionals are gradually appearing whose task is to choreograph intimate scenes, protect actors and ensure consent. Intimacy coordinators, until recently unknown in Bollywood, are becoming an increasingly familiar presence on shoots amid tightening standards after the #MeToo movement, which drew attention to sexual exploitation in the entertainment industry. According to AFP, streaming platforms also spurred the changes, as they shifted storytelling toward more nuanced themes and raised demand for realistic depictions of sexuality.

How a coordinator works

Aastha Khanna, one of a small but growing group of Bollywood intimacy coordinators, compared her work to that of a stunt coordinator: 'Just as a stunt coordinator works on a fight scene... for intimate scenes we write out where the hand goes and where the hair goes, so that nothing is left to awkward improvisation.' Coordinators come to the set with a set of 'modesty tools': groin coverings, nipple stickers and 'donut' cushions that provide distance between performers in bed scenes. According to Khanna, coordinators are usually hired even before casting begins: 'The point is that actors know there are intimate scenes in the script and can decide whether they are comfortable with it before signing the contract.'

From symbolic flowers to 'Gehraiyaan'

Bollywood, one of the most prolific cinematic machines in the world, avoided physical intimacy on screen for decades due to strict government rules and influential censorship: kisses and sex were indicated symbolically — with touching flowers, crashing waves or crackling fire. Even when directors pushed boundaries, the process of shooting intimate scenes remained poorly structured. One of the first mainstream Hindi projects to formalize the practice was 'Gehraiyaan' by producer Karan Johar, released on Amazon Prime Video in 2022: Khanna established personal boundaries and scene choreography, while intimacy coach Neha Vyas ran workshops on physical dynamics and consent. This model gradually spread to projects for streamers, which, in the view of industry experts, remain the main engine of change. 'There is far less censorship here and more openness to stories touching on taboo subjects,' Vyas noted.

Actors' experience and the industry's hidden problems

The crime franchise 'Mirzapur', known for its explicit content, began without intimacy coordinators. Lead actress Rasika Dugal said that in the early seasons she 'had to establish boundaries on her own, based on personal comfort,' and emphasized: 'It is very important to have intimacy coordinators so that no one is violated in any sense and all concerns are properly addressed.' Bollywood's glamorous facade, according to AFP, long concealed a chaotic behind-the-scenes culture in which personal boundaries were regularly violated. 'There have been cases where an actor kissed a colleague without her consent. We make sure nothing like that happens during filming,' Khanna said.

Limitations and the absence of formal rules

Despite the growing practice, coordinators remain rare: there are slightly more than a dozen of them across India's entire film and television industry. In many commercial blockbusters their expertise is almost not in demand, since major stars often avoid explicit physical intimacy and even on-screen kisses. Some films contain intimate scenes without a dedicated coordinator, and some experienced directors still manage such scenes themselves. There are no formal rules or requirements to hire a coordinator; part of the industry hopes that film associations will eventually introduce industry standards. Khanna stresses that the coordinator's role is broader than simulating sex: 'An intimate scene is not necessarily a risqué or romantic scene, it is a much broader umbrella,' including violence, domination, harassment and nudity. 'My work prevents situations in which a person might go through years of therapy, and the scar may not heal,' she added.