Sex in Indian entertainment

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In Indian film and television, there is currently considerable taboo related to the depiction of sexuality, to the extent that kissing was until recently, rarely shown. This exists due to a variety of reasons, many of which involve cultural values that India, or conquering civilisations such as Victorian England, have had on India.

The content is subject to approval and categorization by the Central Board of Film Certification.

The entertainment industry is an important part of modern India, and is expressive of Indian society in general. It can be used as a gauge of the sexual freedom of Indian society. A large number of Indians still engage in sexual activities, including at a young age as the result of a love relationship, however, until recently, it was a taboo for couples in Indian film to even kiss each other. Whilst there are regional differences between sexuality in entertainment to the extent that some Indian states show soft-core sexual scenes and nudity in films, there are other areas where right-wing groups have attacked cinemas with rocks, for doing much less. An example of this is the controversy surrounding the film Fire (1996), which depicted a lesbian relationship. Mainstream films are still largely catered for the uneducated masses of India, however, art film, and foreign films containing sexuality are watched by middle-class Indians. Because of the same process of glamourisation of film entertainment that occurred in Hollywood, Indian cinema, mainy the Hindi speaking Bollywood industry, which is the largest film industry in the world, is also beginning to add sexual overtones to films. A legitimate pornograpical industry has not emerged within India. Instead, many low-quality foreign made films featuring Indians are made abroad and then imported, leaving open the possibility of sexual exploitation.