Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

While the promotion of JANNAT has always maintained that the film is about the ugly side of the cricket world, on and off one also gets to hear and see about the supposedly steamy scenes between film's leads Emraan Hashmi and Sonal Chauhan. For a film which deals with sports, betting and match fixing, was it really required to showcase love making and kissing?

Defends Kunal Deshmukh, film's director, "It isn't as if we are promoting kissing through JANNAT. That has never ever been the thought process. Also, we are not selling sex in JANNAT. If that was the case, I would have rather made a film belonging to the genre of MURDER or stuffed my film's promotion entirely on sex and kisses."

But why even a little dose of steamy encounters between the lead protagonists? Is that a desperate measure or simply put - 'the demand of the script'?

"Let me rather put it a little differently", Kunal starts explaining here, "Suppose a couple has been in love for close to 3-4 years, do you just show them to be shaking hands or exchanging glances? Nahi naa! In current scenario, it is near to impossible to imagine a couple not getting intimate after being in touch for so long. The same happens with the characters in JANNAT who have been in a relationship for long and this is why love making is inevitable."

Ok, point taken. So how does he plan to project their love on screen for the consumption of audience?

"Be rest assured that people in the auditorium won't be titillated or get voyeuristic pleasure out of the sex sequences. The scenes have been shot with utmost sincerity while refraining from using them as a tool for the film's success. They happen in the course of the narrative and you move on to the next scene; it is as simple as that. Once you watch the film and you would believe this for yourself", assures Kunal.

Coming to the film's other strength - music - which is topping the charts, Kunal says, "Since the time the film's music was created, all of us at Vishesh Films were quite sure that we had a chartbuster album in hands. With its sustained presence at the stands, JANNAT has managed to do quite well over the weeks and is currently topping the charts across globe. I now see some good consolidation happening en route to the film's release on 16th May."