What Bollywood Films Have Taught Us About Intimacy

If your sole source for relationship advice, dating and sex tips is Bollywood, I don’t know what to tell you apart from that you need to pause Devdas right now.

Don’t get me wrong - I love Devdas. 

It's one of my absolute favourite Bollywood films, closely followed by Om Shanti Om (2007), Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002) and Sholay (1975), but I wouldn’t refer to any of them as sex education. 

The melodramatic acting and the decadent settings (not to mention the outfits) are some of Bollywood’s key identifiers and we honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. 

While Bollywood may be a great guide for the latest fashion trends, we cannot ignore the underlying euphemisms in relation to romance.

The South Asian (Unofficial) Induction Into Adulthood

Frantically fumbling in the backs of cars in deserted car parks, incessant visits to the ‘library’ to revise with Priya and secret relationships – it’s our unofficial induction into adulthood. 

The sex taboo is almost a running joke for South Asian youth and it makes for a good story. 

When the stress and risk of getting caught subsides, it becomes a thrill, enticing and transient enough to warrant giggles.

We skip romantic scenes in movies – faces buried into necks, a sultry gaze and even the bare skin of a woman’s hip can be too salacious for family viewing. 

A Bollywood film is rarely entirely watched; as the music rises and the heroine starts to sway her hips, our eyes frantically dance across the living room in pursuit of the remote. 

How The Pandemic Made Me Realise I’m The Token Brown Friend

The Covid-19 pandemic has been brimming with revelations for many individuals worldwide, irrespective of gender, age and race. 

Like many others, the pandemic has unearthed aspects of myself that I didn’t acknowledge the existence of earlier.

Before face masks, social distancing and permanently dry hands (due to too much hand sanitiser) became the new normal, I had a thriving friendship circle. 

We giggled until our eyes streamed with salty tears and mascara trickled down our cheeks. 

We bonded by whining over trivial matters such as missing the train or quarrelling with our parents.