Sexual scenes, consent and boundaries: What an intimacy coordinator really does on a film set | Exclusive

New Delhi: A kiss that lasts only a few seconds on screen can take far longer to prepare. Behind the camera, however, an intimate scene can involve conversations about consent, choreography, physical boundaries, nudity, camera angles and exactly what an actor has and has not agreed to do.

This is where an intimacy coordinator comes in.

For decades, intimate scenes in Indian cinema were largely navigated by actors and directors themselves. Action sequences had stunt coordinators and songs had choreographers, but scenes involving kissing, simulated sex, nudity or physical intimacy often did not have a specialist overseeing how performers’ bodies interacted.

It is a relatively new job in the entertainment industry, and one that is still sometimes misunderstood. An intimacy coordinator is not simply someone brought in to make actors “comfortable” before a kissing or sex scene. Nor is the person there to censor filmmakers. The role sits somewhere between performance, choreography and safeguarding: helping a filmmaker achieve what a scene needs creatively while making sure the performers know exactly what is expected of them and retain agency over their bodies.

In an exclusive interview with News9 Digital, Bollywood intimacy coordinator Aastha Khanna Bhardwaj breaks down what happens before and during the filming of intimate scenes, why a simple “yes” from an actor is not enough, and why saying no can become particularly complicated when power dynamics enter the picture.

Actor Celina Jaitly, who worked with an intimacy supervisor on Seasons Greetings-A tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, also tells News9 Digital how having a professional intermediary made a difference when she had to film an intimate scene after recently becoming a mother.

What exactly does an intimacy coordinator do?

Think of an action sequence on a film set. Actors are usually not expected to walk in and improvise a dangerous fight. A stunt professional works out the movements and risks beforehand. Intimate scenes are increasingly being approached with a similar level of preparation.

The work can begin at the script stage. An intimacy professional needs to understand what the scene is trying to communicate, what physical contact it requires and how much of that contact will actually be visible to the audience. Conversations with actors then help establish individual boundaries before movements are choreographed.

Aastha Bhardwaj explains, “My job is to bring together the creative vision of the filmmaker and the consent and safety of the performers. Ideally, I come in during pre production, break down the script, understand the narrative purpose of the intimacy, discuss boundaries with the actors and choreograph the scenes. On set, I ensure that what we have agreed upon is what is executed. Intimacy is performance, and it deserves the same preparation as any other aspect of filmmaking.”

If everything is choreographed, how does it still look spontaneous?

“The choreography creates the freedom for spontaneity. When actors know what is going to happen physically, they can stop worrying about the mechanics and focus on the performance. We establish the boundaries and physical vocabulary of the scene, but the emotional life of the characters still belongs to the actors. The aim is not to make intimacy look choreographed. It is to make the choreography invisible,” Bhardwaj explains.

When did Hollywood start using intimacy coordinators?

Although intimacy coordination can sometimes sound like a long-established Hollywood practice, its formal adoption is relatively recent.

One of the most important turning points came with HBO’s The Deuce. During the show’s second season in 2018, Alicia Rodis worked as an intimacy coordinator after actor Emily Meade raised concerns about how performers were supported during sex scenes. The development came as Hollywood was reassessing working practices involving nudity, simulated sex and consent in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Bhardwaj therefore pushes back against the idea that India arrived decades late to the profession.

“This is a misnomer- Hollywood or the British film industry got intimacy coordinators only 3 years before India did. In the first project – The Deuce (season 2) in 2018. I trained and was first hired in India in 2020. My first project was a short film, The Unaccused, in 2021, and Deepika Padukone’s Gehraiyaan on Prime Video 2022,” she said.

“We have historically treated intimacy as something personal rather than something that needs professional choreography. There is also a larger cultural discomfort around discussing sex, bodies and consent openly. The industry has always choreographed action and dance, but intimacy was often left to individual interpretation. We are now recognising that it, too, requires a specialised skill set,” she added.

The timeline also shows how quickly the profession travelled. What became a highly visible industry conversation in the US around 2018 began appearing on Indian sets soon afterwards.

When did intimacy coordination begin in Bollywood?

Bollywood’s history with the role has more than one milestone.

In March 2019, Season’s Greetings: A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and starring Celina Jaitly and Azhar Khan, made headlines for appointing an intimacy supervisor for an intimate sequence. Reports at the time described the move as a first for Bollywood.

Then came Gehraiyaan.

Shakun Batra’s 2022 relationship drama, starring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa, featured several intimate scenes and put the term “intimacy director” before a much larger mainstream audience.

For Bhardwaj, the film helped change the conversation.

“Gehraiyaan helped bring intimacy coordination into mainstream industry conversations in India. It made people curious about what the role actually involves and demonstrated that intimate scenes could be approached as a serious part of the filmmaking process. Since then, awareness has grown, and more productions are recognising the value of having an intimacy professional. There is still a long way to go before we are able to mandate the hiring of ICs, but the conversation has definitely moved forward,” she told us.

An actor agrees to do an intimate scene. Isn’t that consent?

On a film set, consent isn’t just one ‘yes’.  Agreeing to a scene does not automatically mean agreeing to every touch, movement, degree of exposure or camera angle. The performer needs to understand what is being filmed and what their body will be asked to do.

Bhardwaj said, “Consent is an ongoing process, not a one-time yes. Actors need to know exactly what they are agreeing to, including the physical actions, nudity, exposure and what the camera will capture. Power dynamics matter because saying yes under professional pressure is not necessarily the same as feeling free to choose. My job is to create a process where consent is specific, informed and can be revisited if needed. For a lot of people comfort and consent mean the same thing, but it’s not. Sometimes something is comfortable but you might not consent to it and sometimes a scene is uncomfortable but an actor might feel brave to push themselves and consent to doing it.”

What if the director wants something the actor doesn’t agree to?

A director may have imagined a particular shot or physical movement. But if it goes beyond a performer’s agreed boundaries, the solution cannot simply be to assume consent because the scene is already being filmed. Instead, the creative problem has to be reconsidered.

“My job is not to oppose the director’s vision but to find a way to achieve it without compromising the performer’s boundaries. I look at what the scene needs to communicate and explore alternative choreography, camera angles or performance choices. If something falls outside the agreed boundaries, we pause and discuss it. Creativity can be negotiated. Consent cannot be assumed. No is a full sentence,” Bhardwaj said.

A different camera angle may suggest more than it actually reveals. Choreography can be changed. A physical action can be substituted. The emotional purpose of a scene can often remain intact without crossing a boundary.

The point is not to pit an actor against a director. It is to find another route to the same storytelling goal.

Why saying ‘no’ can be harder for newcomers

Consent becomes even more complicated when the person being asked to perform an intimate scene is new to the industry.

Film sets are workplaces with hierarchies. A newcomer may be standing opposite an established star or taking instructions from a filmmaker who has the power to influence their next opportunity. In that environment, refusing something can feel professionally risky.

Women can face an additional layer of pressure because their bodies and choices are often scrutinised differently.

Bhardwaj told us, “Absolutely. When you are new to the industry, there can be an enormous fear of being labelled difficult or losing an opportunity. Women can face additional scrutiny around their bodies and boundaries. I try to establish a professional process where performers know they do not have to negotiate their boundaries alone. Saying no should not come at the cost of someone’s professional standing. Sometimes there’s situations that are not favourable, in those situations, consent is considered, and if someone must safeguard themselves at the loss of one tiny opportunity, that should be entirely their decision to make.”

Having a professional process means the actor does not necessarily have to navigate that conversation alone.

Does an intimacy coordinator influence the ‘male gaze’?

Safety is one part of the job. But intimacy is also storytelling, and how a camera looks at a body can change what a scene communicates.

Does that mean an intimacy coordinator can challenge the traditional “male gaze” associated with depictions of sex and women’s bodies?

Bhardwaj told us, “Typically not in the way you think, but yes, through creative collaboration. I can ask whose perspective we are watching the scene from, what the camera is inviting the audience to look at, and whether that serves the story or simply objectifies the performer. I am not there to impose my personal aesthetic on a filmmaker, but I can offer alternative ways of depicting desire and intimacy. The question is not just what we show, but whose experience we are asking the audience to inhabit. Informing the gaze is part of our process but I would never step into a director’s space and challenge their vision on a set.”

Misconceptions about intimacy coordinators

The arrival of intimacy coordinators has also created misconceptions about what they can and cannot do.

One of the biggest, Bhardwaj says, is the idea that they are hired to restrict sex on screen.

“The biggest misconception is that we are the sex police or that we are there to restrict what filmmakers can show. In reality, we are there to support the creative process and all performers involved, regardless of their gender. Men can feel just as vulnerable or pressured in intimate scenes, but we do not always acknowledge that. Our job is to ensure that every performer has agency over their body and feels supported in the process. We are not there to take away creative freedom, no one has the right to do that. We are there to make intimate storytelling more intentional, collaborative and effective. We want to push the envelope of storytelling in our industry, find ways to allow for more sexy, real, and evocative characters to come to life,” she said.

The terminology itself can sometimes create confusion.

In earlier industry conversations, Bhardwaj has explained that “intimacy director” is generally the credit associated with theatre internationally, while “intimacy coordinator” is used for screen productions. The work requires knowledge extending beyond choreography, with areas such as filmmaking, psychology and legal considerations forming part of professional training.

The exact credits seen on Indian projects have varied — Season’s Greetings, for instance, used the term “intimacy supervisor”.

Could intimate scenes eventually be treated the same way?

Bhardwaj said, “I believe intimacy coordination should become a standard part of filmmaking wherever the material calls for it. mental and physical wellbeing are the foundation of our work, but we are also specialists in a particular kind of scene. when there is genuine creative collaboration, we can bring a level of specificity and sophistication to intimate storytelling that elevates the final product. Much like a stunt coordinator brings expertise to action, an intimacy professional brings both safety and creative value to a scene. The goal is not to have us on every set regardless of need, but to recognise that intimate storytelling deserves the same professional expertise and creative investment as any other aspect of filmmaking.”

Celina Jaitly recalls working with intimate cordinator

Celina Jaitly’s film Seasons Greetings: A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh was among the earliest Indian productions to bring an intimacy supervisor onto the set.

Speaking exclusively to News9 Digital, she said, “An intimacy director is so important because an actor should be able to express their physical boundaries without fear of repercussions. I have always believed in the power of a “positive no” & the importance of agreement & consent. Being an actor does not mean that your comfort or dignity becomes negotiable.”

“Our film, Seasons Greetings: A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, was among the first Indian films to have an intimacy supervisor on set. Our director, Ram Kamal Mukherjee, and producers, Aritra Das & Sarbani Mukherjee, were very keen to have one. Ram, my producers & I shared a vision of creating a workplace where everyone felt safe, respected & able to do their best work,” she added.

“For me, this was also deeply personal. I had recently given birth to my second set of twins & was still breastfeeding during the shoot. As a new mother, I had my own challenges & felt awkward about shooting an intimate scene. Having someone who understood boundaries & could help communicate them made a real difference. Our intimacy supervisor, Manisha Basu, became an impartial, sensitive bridge between the actors & the director. Ram shared the storyboard with me beforehand, & the preparation helped ease the awkwardness. He also gave me the space to feel physically in control of my performance,” she told us.

“An intimacy director supports the filmmaker’s vision while helping choreograph intimate scenes so that actors can concentrate on character, emotion & storytelling. Ram wanted to honour the character’s sexual expression with the sensitivity that a tribute to Rituparno Ghosh deserved. Having an intimacy supervisor was an important beginning. Safe workplaces also require clear guidelines, accountability & zero tolerance for harassment. Every performer deserves to know what a scene involves, to have their boundaries respected & to feel safe enough to say no,” Jaitley said.