The KamaSutra condom campaign became one of the most talked about advertising campaigns in India during the 1990s and helped Pooja Bedi gain the image of a sex symbol. The campaign featured her alongside model Marc Robinson and became widely discussed at the time. In a recent interview, Bedi opened up about another project from that period and recalled shooting an intimate scene with Aamir Khan that was eventually not included in the final advertisement.
Speaking to Vickey Lalwani for his YouTube channel, Bedi reflected on the impact of the KamaSutra campaign and the image she was associated with after its release. “My Kamasutra campaign had heralded the sexual revolution in India. I was made into the sex symbol of India, and I had to play that role. I enjoyed that part.”
She then recalled working with Aamir on an advertisement that included a dramatic rescue sequence. According to Bedi, the original version also included a romantic scene between the two actors, but it was never aired.
“There is a scene that never got aired. It was a passionate love-making scene between Aamir Khan and me. In the ad, I was almost being raped by the bad guy, and Aamir comes and rescues me. It was raining and all of that. He fights off the bad guy, picks me up and takes me to safety. As he takes me, I am all wet, and then there was this passionate love-making scene that we shot. Back then, you didn’t have these kinds of scenes.”
Bedi also remembered feeling uncertain after filming the scene because she was a young actress at the time. She explained that she and Aamir were later left in a room with a bed while waiting for the next part of the shoot.
“We were shooting in Film City, in some bungalows, so no one used to go into the vanity room. After the shot, they put us in some room. I was sitting in the room, Aamir was sitting in the room, and there was this bed there. A million thoughts were going through my head as a young actress. I was thinking, ‘Is this the part they talk about in Bollywood? What should I be expecting?’ I was all confused.”
Bedi said Aamir eventually made the situation comfortable by asking her a simple question.
“Aamir was sitting in silence, and I was sitting in silence. Aamir looked up and said, ‘Will you play chess?’ I said yes. Then he asked someone to get the chessboard, and I took a sigh of relief.”
Looking back on the incident, Bedi described Aamir as a “decent guy” and a “good man”. She added, “He was not one of those dirty co-stars.”
Pooja Bedi was most recently seen in the Netflix series Masaba Masaba.