Dar Gai joined the team of Shakun Batra’s film Gehraiyaan as an intimacy director. She told The Quint that having an intimacy coach on the sets was Shakun’s idea, “I think Shakun made me realise that (the industry needs an intimacy coach). We were talking about chemistry and his film and he thought that bringing in an intimacy director to his film can create a unique connection between him and his actors.”
Dar Gai also explained the process of working as an intimacy coach and likened the job to that of an orchestra conductor. She further revealed how they worked on intimate scenes in the times of COVID-19, “In a way intimacy direction is very similar to COVID protocol- have as less people as possible, have distances with each other, isolate if necessary- because it creates a safe zone.”
While Dar named Shakun Batra as the person who was the most difficult to open up, she added that the film’s cast ‘surprised’ her. Gehraiyaan stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, and Dhairya Karwa.
“I didn’t feel any hesitation from any of the sides. Everyone knew why we were on set. Deepika (Padukone) was so collaborative and so curious to try new things that it inspired me a lot," Dar said.
Dar also revealed how they managed to keep the intimate sequences natural despite repeated rehearsals, how they deal with hesitation from actors, and her first day on the sets of Gehraiyaan.
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