UP CLOSE: A behind-the-scenes shot from ‘Four More Shots Please!’, on which Aastha Khanna (below) worked as an intimacy coordinator

Jaya Lakshmi Sundaresan remembers being on a movie set in Hyderabad with a very prominent producer and his gaggle of friends staring intently at the monitor. What had them so very transfixed was a steamy scene. “Though I was the costume designer, directors would sometimes ask me to be present for sex scenes to make sure the heroine is comfortable. That day, I said no unnecessary people should be on set, but was I able to stop them from making illicit comments and giggling? No, and I still feel so let down about it,” says the 39-year-old.

But Sundaresan can now put her foot down and her new-found confidence comes from the fact that she is now a trained intimacy coordinator (IC). Shakun Batra’s ‘Gehraiyaan’ made headlines for being the first Indian movie to hire intimacy coordinators but now it’s a growing field. While jokes about them being the “sex police” abound, Indian ICs say their role is not as sexy as it sounds. It is crucial to ensure that any intimacy being filmed is consensual, safe, in line with the artistic vision of the director, while still involving best practices. Think of it like a stunt coordinator but for intimacy.

The person who trained Sundaresan is Aastha Khanna, India’s first IC. She has trained six people thus far and is taking on another cohort soon. Having worked as an assistant director for several years, she was intrigued by this up-and-coming department. “It was a solution-oriented response to the #MeToo movement that focused on reducing risk spaces rather than creating a committee to deal with the after-effects,” she says.

When filming for ‘Gehraiyaan’ halted due to Covid, she decided to get certified as an IC, getting trained by Amanda Blumenthal, who has performed the role on shows like ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The Affair’.

What exactly does an IC do? They are often involved from the time of scripting — discussing “the vocabulary of intimacy” with the director and actors, as Khanna puts it. “We spend so long discussing a piece of dialogue so why not do the same with a scene of intimacy where there may or may not be any dialogue? When one has a vocabulary of intimacy that comes from the character arc and cultural context of the story, it starts to feel real, not merely titillating,” she says.

Actor and filmmaker Neha Vyaso is another IC who has been trained in the US and will complete the certification soon. Vyaso says there are essentially three roles in the West when it comes to this kind of work — an intimacy coach, coordinator and director. “I have dabbled in all of them for films and OTT shows.”

A coach conducts workshops with performers and a director actually choreographs the scene itself, while a coordinator ensures best practices are being followed.

Khanna has also spearheaded an initiative to put together intimacy guidelines to create structure around something that can often be amorphous, especially in an industry that is mired in unequal power dynamics. Consent is important, but say you’re an inexperienced actor getting their big break, can you really feel empowered to set your boundaries? Akshay Murarka, who has become South Asia’s first male intimacy coordinator after Khanna’s programme, says there is an option to walk back. “Say there’s a newcomer actor who has agreed to a scene but later changes his or her mind, consent is reversible.” 

However, whatever they signed off on in their contract may be filmed in some other fashion, using a body double or camera tricks.

This can play out in many ways, however, says Sundaresan, who is now the first IC in the South. “A director had asked me to be there for a long French kiss scene, because he didn’t want to talk to the heroine about it. On the day, she did not feel comfortable filming the scene and I supported her. But the production felt cheated. She didn’t end up filming the scene thankfully,” she says.

The role of intimacy directors has become especially important after the #MeToo movement in Hollywood. Just this week, sexual harassment allegations against producer Sebastian Bear-McClard included testimony from a young woman who says that when she was 17, she filmed a nude scene in a movie he was producing with absolutely no notice. While filming, an actor whispered in her ear asking if he could ‘stick it in’.

Back home, Naina Bhan, actor and filmmaker who was inspired by Khanna to train as a coordinator herself, points out there will always be hierarchy on the set as in any workplace. “But the question is: how do I come out with my boundaries in place, safe and least affected?” She’s learnt a lot in her training — from thinking about how the scenes are digitally stored to making sure only what an actor has consented to in their nudity rider is reflected in the edit.

One of the challenges has been creating awareness about the importance of ICs. For a while, Khanna and Vyaso were the only ICs in the industry, but now, with others getting trained, the hope is to reach out to the Producer’s Guild to push for the use of ICs. Vyaso brushes off objections that ICs break the flow.

“You don’t say that when an action director is choreographing a fight scene where someone needs to be stabbed. Both are vulnerable positions to be in. Our job is not to interfere with the director’s vision but to enhance it,” Vyaso says.

And it’s not just sex scenes where an IC could come in handy, argues Murarka. “Say, there’s a scene with a minor where a parent is giving them a bath. When you watch it, you think about a father and daughter, but the actors are strangers. Or take an item number, where we can work on the gaze, or even a medical scene like childbirth,” he says.

Bhan, having worked with an IC as an actor, attests to the feeling of safety having one on set brought her. “It’s a lot easier, knowing that someone is there for you. Just having them in the room offers support. It also breaks the power dynamic on set — sometimes it’s awkward to communicate with your co-actor. Like say someone smokes and you have to kiss them, an IC helps create a neutral buffer of communication,” says Bhan, who hopes to add intimacy coordination to her creative arsenal.

- An IC acts as a mediator with performers — outlining exactly what is expected of them and discussing their rights and boundaries to ensure they are making an empowered decision about what they wish to do on screen

- When shooting happens, they ensure there is a closed set, which means that only those who are essential to the scene are present

- They make sure the actors are wearing barriers, like L-guards which actors with penises wear or even a deflated ball that is placed between the two actors, and modesty garments — which ensure their genitals are covered

Actor Naina Bhan says working with a professional during sex scenes made her feel more safe