Mumbai: Photographer pastes pictures of kissing couples all over Bandra

Mystery posters of whiteskinned couples in a tight clinch smooching each other have shocked Bandra residents and passersby Since a couple of days people in the swish Pali Hill area Mumbairsquos Beverly Hills of the pricey Western suburb have been gaping at photographs of lip locking couplesPali HillA man looks at the kissing posters on the walls of the old Basilico restaurant at Pali Hill Passion may certainly be on the menu of the next restaurant to replace this one PicsTushar SatamThere are at least three sets of pictures at different locations within a small radius They are hoardings really not paper photographs which have appeared on walls Nobody knows who has put them up or how they have appeared but they seem to have amused or angered bohemian BandraPali MarketA website claims that this is the work of an art group called Limits Within who with this project is pushing the boundaries of what is allowed or not allowed in public Near Axis Bank at the Pali HillTurner Road Junction there is a portraitsize picture of a couple kissing near what appears to be Mahim CreekTurner RoadThe helmet cannot stop heads from turning at the sight of this picture at Turner Road head turner literallyA short walk down the road towards Pali Market and near the old Basilico restaurant there are two more such picture portraits One is the same one and the other a new one of a couple kissing this time as they sit on a flyover railing Residents seem scandalised by the picturesZigzag RoadThe Zigzag Road liplock that is causing a flutter We know the path of true love is not smooth but now we also know it can take on a zigzag directionMustaq Motha a doctor one met says ldquoThis is not our culture What is going on I am shell shocked to see this Whoever has done this should be severely penalised There are many miscreants in the area perhaps one of those antisocial elements has done thisrdquoCatch the culpritsParvati Omkara resident says ldquoThese pictures have been up since Sunday morning The only thing that people are doing is staring at them No one has the guts to remove them They are very obscene and not suitable for the school and college students who frequent this areardquoAgreeing with her Tina DrsquoSouza a senior citizen says ldquoBandra was never like this The foreigners have increased as has the influence of western culture on youth The people in the pictures are foreigners it is an insult that they are kissing on our city streetsrdquoldquoThis is not a good message and the police or authorities should do something No one is even taking out these pictures They have been all over Pali for many days now We do not allow people to kiss then how can these kissing pictures be okay They are in very bad tasterdquo says Tukaram Pandit a shopkeeperCollege student Martha Fernandes disagrees She says ldquoIf people can kiss in films at Bandstand then this is not bad art I like the photo series mdash the theme is love in the city where kissing is considered a crime A kiss is the world expression of love there is nothing obscene about itrdquoRahul Patil college student says ldquoThe police have problems if young people hold hand and hug Why should an expression of love not be allowed The pictures are a bold statement and I am very happy that someone in Bandra has the guts to express their art in such an intelligent wayrdquoAhead in Pali Market is another picture of a couple kissing Saurab Khanna a businessman says ldquoThese foreigners are shameless they start kissing anywhere In our country everything has a place and a time These pictures are a bad influence and propagate the wrong message Those who have put them up should be caught and given strict punishmentrdquoShrouded in mysteryShaan Khan an MBA student says ldquoThis is art and needs to be appreciated But people want to create a hue lsquonrsquo cry over nothing Kissing is commonplace today we are in the 21st century Young people in love should be allowed to express themselves I like the bold statement this picture series is makingAlso the fact that the artist is being secretive is more inspiring for other young street artistsrdquo Looking at a photo near Zigzag Road Taus Pathan an engineering student says ldquoThe theme of the picture is very intelligent as well as the location where it has been put upNo one has managed to figure out who the mystery photographer is nor who has stuck the pictures If anyone goes near the pictures they get shouted at because residents are trying to find the culpritrdquo ldquoWe asked the security guards in the area but none of them had any idea who put up the picturesSome people find them amusing while some find them intriguing so there is a mixed reaction Interestingly I have also seen this on social media especially Twitterrdquo says Douglas Naik an artist Madan Mohan a shopkeeper near the Zigzag Road poster says ldquoMany people come and stare at the pictureSome even click pictures of it There are pictures all over Pali so I think the person who has put it up is also from this area only I live at Hill Road but there are no posters there This is a very interesting mysteryrdquo