(From left) Kavya Thapar, Prit Kamani and Eisha Singh

How often have we heard of two co-stars dating ahead of a film’s release? Over the past many years, it has become almost a staple promotional gimmick to grab eyeballs and pique curiosity around the movie. Ratnaa Sinha’s upcoming directorial venture, Middle-Class Love, stands in stark contrast to the practice. Ahead of the shoot of the campus caper that launches debutants Prit Kamani, Eisha Singh and Kavya Thapar, director Ratnaa Sinha and producer Anubhav Sinha included a clause in the actors’ contract that forbade them from being romantically involved off screen during the film’s making. 

Ratnaa reasons that the clause, unusual as it may be, was put in place to ensure that the equilibrium on the set was not disrupted. “Right when I hired my actors, I ensured that their contracts have a clause asserting that off-screen romance during the film’s making is off-limits. The film has three leads, and a situation where two of them were dating would have hampered the dynamics. We wanted to ensure that everyone is comfortable and feels like the film belongs to each of them,” she explains.

This isn’t the first time that such a clause has been effected in Hindi entertainment. In 2016, the makers of the show, Rishton Ka Saudagar — Baazigar, had made lead actors Vatsal Sheth and Ishita Dutta sign a no-dating clause. Nidhhi Agerwal, who forayed into Bollywood with Munna Michael (2017), was made to sign a similar contract. In a telling sign of the industry’s patriarchal ways, the film’s hero Tiger Shroff was not bound by such a clause.

In Middle-Class Love, however, Ratnaa asserts that the rule was laid out for all three actors, thus creating a work environment that was transparent and fair. “I am glad we put this rule. The actors were more than forthcoming when this was brought up. They are bright, ambitious, hard-working, and are here to make a career. I was impressed by their work ethic. Now, this is among the things that we all joke about.”