Married Actors In Sensuous Scenes – A ‘Toxic’ Outlook? Intimacy Experts Clear Myths, Misconceptions

In the centre of the fire is Yash and Kiara Advani’s song, Tabaahi, from the upcoming Geetu Mohandas movie,   The song features steamy romantic moments picturised on Yash and Kiara, who are married to Radhika Pandit and Sidharth Malhotra, respectively. A section of the internet believed Advani, now a mother to one-year-old Saraayah Malhotra, should not have agreed to perform those scenes of intimacy as a sign of respect to her husband and family. Yash, also a father of two, received backlash. But the woman here was trolled, judged for her loyalty towards Sidharth and objectified on social media.

Previously, Ram Charan, a renowned Telugu actor, was bashed for endorsing the male gaze in his last release Peddi. He is married to Upasana Kamineni and has three children – Klin Kaara and twins – a baby boy named Shivram and daughter Anveera Devi. His scenes with   were criticised heavily. With this, a prominent question regarding professional independence and personal responsibilities has been raised. Are married actors ‘allowed’ to perform scenes of intimacy? Is it fair to criticise them for their professional choices?

Zoom spoke to intimacy professionals to understand and decode what is right and what is not acceptable. Revealing the common misconceptions about having an intimacy expert on board, Neha Vyaso, who is one of the first intimacy directors in India and an actor herself, explained the difference between an intimacy director and coordinator. Emphasising the importance of having an intimacy expert on board, Neha said, “The minute we say coordinator, say action coordinator and action director, the difference is between safety and aesthetic. When we contextualise the work, the intimacy director is also someone who is bringing narrative and aesthetic intelligence to the work.”

Stating the importance of consent in scenes of intimacy, she clarified that an ID (Intimacy Director) does not police what is being choreographed. Instead, their job is to uphold the principle of consent-forward creation. “My joy is in making what is being choreographed feel braver. The actor must feel brave and confident. Slowly, directors are realising that about intimacy professionals: it’s beyond safety. Intimacy experts don’t just come on board for safety and aesthetics; they bring visual narrative,” she added.

Highlighting the need to have dissociation practices in place and how an intimacy coordinator plays a key role in doing that with the actor, Kanak Garg told us, “During scenes of intimacy, I ask the actors for their consent. The character’s consent might be different. I need to understand the actor’s consent before taking them to the character. When we close the scene, I ensure that the actor is very present but disassociates from the scene of intimacy.” She further revealed the misconceptions that parents, partners and friends of actors have when it comes to scenes of intimacy. “Most of the time, they are shocked because they’ve heard stories of them not being informed about what they are going to do and how it will look like on screen. Once a professional intimacy coordinator or coach is on set, they are going to have these conversations,” Garg added.

Aastha Khanna, an intimacy professional who worked on films including Gehraiyaan, reacted to the conversation around married people sharing a passionate romantic moment on screen. Calling the judgement ‘unfair’, she said, “The guns are pointed at the performers sadly. Though our audience has evolved, they haven’t evolved fully. While they are evolving, they don’t understand that when something feels a little off or less palatable, it is not because of a scene of intimacy, but the gaze of intimacy may not necessarily come from an authentic space.”

According to her, scenes of intimacy don’t feel right if there is oversexualisation, which is more common in songs because filmmakers don’t realise how it would look on screen later. When that happens, the gun gets pointed at the performers, which is not appropriate, whether they are married or not married. What we need to see, and we are getting there, is the audience seeing films for what they are. Barring the controversy around Toxic or Peddi, there is evolved storytelling. When scenes of intimacy begin to feel less off, the identity of the performer and who they are takes a backseat.”

For her, the culprit is celeb worship. “People who are doing certain performances are looked at for the superstars that they are as opposed to the characters that they are playing. That is when such conversations come up. We are watching a celebrity in a role play as opposed to watching a story and them as a vessel to tell that character’s story,” Aastha said.

Kanak, who has worked on the recently released Amazon Prime Video series  , weighed in on the debate and noted the difference between setting boundaries and creating barriers. According to her, boundaries empower performers, whereas barriers restrict them. “The idea of being married and not wanting to perform intimacy scenes can be a stand of a performer. This does not mean that one is right and the other is wrong,” she said.

According to Kanak, intimacy scenes are just like any other sequence. If a filmmaker wants to show a couple’s journey, intimacy is mandatory. “How will you show their journey without showing intimacy?” she asked before adding, “It is a personal choice, and every actor has the right to make. However, saying that married people should not perform scenes of intimacy, I find it problematic. Marriage has nothing to do with profession. Acting is a profession at the end of the day. It is between the partners how they disassociate before and after their work.”

Kanak further shared, “As for whether married actors should do it or not, that is a personal choice. I believe the more actors work with intimacy coordinators, the more they will understand that we make it very professional, technical and collaborative while keeping the emotions the actor will bring into the scene. In fact, I have spoken to actors’ partners to give them an idea of what the scene will look like.”

For Neha, the choice to do scenes of intimacy is professional and has nothing to do with a person’s personal relationships. “I believe you are an actor and you made a choice to do it. Once you are in the space, you are that character. You are a professional actor, and then your personal relationship should not come in the way of what you are doing,” she said. The intimacy director stated that experts play a huge role in putting a distance between the personal and the professional. “That is a big part of intimacy work; disassociating and putting a barrier between the person and the character,” Neha explained.

Toxic, one of the biggest pan-India movies of 2026, showcased Yash’s romance with and Tara Sutaria through songs. The reason behind the intimacy and the question of whether it was needed shall be answered with the trailer. Geetu, the director of the film, hasn’t addressed the backlash, but Huma Qureshi, one of the female leads of Toxic, clarified that it is the women who will have the last laugh after the audience watches the film. As intimacy experts explain, Kamasutra has been a part of India’s ancient culture, and it is not taboo. With the right dissociation practices in place and an intimacy expert present on set to make the actors feel comfortable, the scene is more technical and professional rather than sleazy.

Collectively, intimacy professionals believe that the physical relationship shown between the lead actors is a part of their jobs and such commitments should not be judged. The audience needs to differentiate between characters and actors. Merging personal relationships with work-related decisions would not be a fair judgement. As far as Toxic is concerned, the trailer would probably establish the characters and their ideologies better.