Despite strict censorship regulations and reserved cultural views, Tollywood is getting bolder on the sexual side of things. The first nude scene in Bengali cinema was shown just four years ago. Now director Vimukthi Jayasundara is pushing the envelope with a scene in which a male and female star are swimming together in the nude.
Recent Tollywood movies have touched on the female side of lust and promiscuity, among other things and actors and actresses say they are becoming more and more comfortable with showing their sexual side, but directors are perhaps behind the curve.
When The Times of India asked leading Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta her opinion, she said, "Tollywood has actors willing to shed inhibitions but we need more directors who have the aesthetics to film sexuality in a mature fashion. Otherwise, how can we get truly bold on-screen?"
Director Kaushik Ganguly has a different opinion, however, saying, "It's not that we can't shoot [explicit material] but the Bengali audience isn't tolerant enough to digest it. If this nude sequence in Vimukthi's film gets a Censor nod, directors like me will be assured that we don't have to write pre-censored scripts."
Way to go, Tollywood! We've got our eye on you!