Anirban Das (MID-DAY; September 1, 2015)

As movie promotions become increasingly aggressive, filmmakers are egged on to push the envelope. Like the marketing team of Nikhil Advani’s Katti Batti came up with the idea of a kissing contest in the city. The lead pair Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan has multiple kissing scenes in the film and were supposed to judge real-life couples on the smooch-o-meter. However, the city police have denied permission to host the event.

Apparently, the film’s team had approached a Bandra college to host the event on its campus and the authorities then approached the police to seek permission. “The contest required real-life couples to come out in the open and kiss in front of the judges. While the contest was not restricted to students of that particular college, the authorities authorities decided to seek police permission,” says a source close to the project.

The police, however, did not endorse the idea and supposedly felt that an educational institute wasn’t an ideal ground to hold the liplock activity. “We believe that kissing is not a crime and when 50-odd couples were willing to take part, why should we shy away from hosting it? But, the police did not agree. The college then intimated the film’s team that they won’t be able to organise the event,” says the source, adding: “ The makers then decided to host it in Bandra Bandstand but the police shot down that idea too.”

The producers of Katti Batti have apparently lost a lot of money and time on planning the event. Though disheartened, director Nikhil says, “We have been denied permission by every possible institution for the kissing contest. What’s very interesting is the response that we have generated.”