Mumbai: Yes, you’ve seen it right. That is Kareena Kapoor puckering up with Arjun Kapoor for the poster of R Balki’s ‘Ki & Ka’. Hadn’t Kareena said no to on-screen kissing after her marriage? When offered Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Bajirao Mastani’ she made it very clear at the outset that she “can’t do all that with Ranveer” now that she is the Begum of the Pataudi khandaan. In fact in Prakash Jha’s ‘Satyagraha’, Kareena’s one intimate sequence with Ajay Devgn had to be drastically reduced.
Now we see Kareena happily puckering up with her co-star Arjun Kapoor. So what gives?
Director R Balki shrugs off all suggestions of special concessions from the dignified diva. “Kareena and Arjun play husband and wife in my film. So what do husband and wives do? They show affection with a kiss, right? How else should Kareena and Arjun behave while playing man and wife?”
Apparently there are several pecks and kisses between the couple in ‘Ki & Ka’. Balki says the question of whether to kiss or not to kiss never even came up for discussion. “Bebo and I didn’t even discuss this. The pecks and kisses are a given in any marriage. How could I show an urbane evolved married couple in Delhi not doing the normal things?”
Balki feels we still continue to place too much emphasis on normal show of intimacy. “Bebo didn’t even ask me why her character had to kiss her screen husband. It’s basic logic. Why are we making such a fuss about it?”
Balki says, Arjun and Kareena play a happy ideal couple. “Most films about marriage are dark and unhappy. I wanted to make a happy sunny film on marriage. Arjun and Kareena are the ideal spouses. In fact my wife (filmmaker Gauri Shinde) is already asking me why I can’t treat her the way Arjun treats Kareena in ‘Ki & Ka’. So I see major trouble for husbands after the film’s release.”
