Stalking
and romanticizing in Hindi cinema is not something new. It is one of those
strong pillars that holds the genre of romance pretty strongly in Bollywood.
But time and again, haven’t we all thought about it to ourselves, stalking and
showing love is not romantic, it is creepy.
India,
is a country where movies are everyone’s go-to entertainment, whatever the
movies show leaves an impact on the society. But for decades, Bollywood has
been making superstars out of stalkers cum aashiqs who constantly pursue their
love interest in ways that may seem cute but are totally creepy.
However,
looks like Bollywood is not listening to any of the criticism that
stalking-for-love receives in today’s time.
The most
recent example that glorifies this creepy practice, which very much exist in
the real world, is the song ‘Hans Mat Pagli’ from Akshay Kumar and Bhumi
Pednekar’s upcoming film: Toilet – Ek Prem Katha.
You
should probably see the video before reading further:
This
practice of stalking and singing songs has been a part of the Indian film
industry since a very long time.
Shammi
Kapoor
Back in
the 60s, superstar Shammi Kapoor, danced and flirted in front of the heroine,
who intitally rejected him but was won over when she found his real worth.
Audience clapped and enjoyed every bit of it. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
Some see
it as stalking, for Bollywood fanatics its normal behavior as the movie
promotes the idea that a women will fall in love with a man if he pursues her
hard enough.
Darr: A
Violent Love Story
Directed
by Yash Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla starrer in which Rahul is
obsessed with Kiran, who is engaged to Sunil. Rahul engraves Kiran’s name on
his chest with a knife and decorates his room with her photos and talks about
her with his dead mother. Later, he kidnaps her and forces her to marry him but
is killed by Sunil.
This
film, made SRK what he is today. Audience championed his character’s cause and
shouted in support for him in the fight scenes, and fast tracked the actor into
the A-list.
Raanjhanaa
Over the
past 20 years, the strange and creepy Bollywood stalker has evolved from
villain to a superstar hero. In Raanjhanaa (2013), starring Dhanush and Sonam
Kapoor, Kundan stalks Zoya, cuts his wrists when rejected, then breaks up her
wedding. Zoya’s fiancé is beaten to death, and Kundan evenetually dies in
pursuit of Zoya, saying he will be born again to fall in love with her.
Such
behavior is nothing but a wrong message to the audience about how to conduct
themselves in similar situations. “While Hindi cinema is not realistic.” Some
people take it to next level, real life eve teasing and sexual harassment cases
have been registered as citizens feel if they pursue a woman hard enough she is
bound to fall in love.
Baahubali
The film
that broke all Indian Box Office records. As Forbes notes, “That makes it the
most successful opening in the history of India’s prolific, multi-language film
industry which makes over a thousand films each year.”
Unfortunately,
like many other South films it focuses on the aggressive male character. The
film, is billed as an action-adventure romance, an epic drama about two warring
brothers and a rebellious warrior woman who is trying to free a queen from
prison. The story revolves around a man who stalks and sexually harasses the
female warrior until he breaks her spirit and independence. The leader of a
powerful guerrilla rebel group tries to fight off his romantic advances,
disrobes her, gives her a makeover and in no time, makes her fall in love with
him! From then, she is not a warrior anymore. Cinema gold stuff? Hell, no!
So how
do we get men and boys to adopt a different attitude and behavior when they interact
with women and girls? Forcing yourself upon anyone will never get you love.
Bollywood needs to understand it, turning a deaf ear anymore will not work.As for
Akshay Kumar, we are a little disappointed in you because Toilet- Eik Prem
Katha, is a movie made with an intention of a positive change and your consent
for stalking or anyone else’s is not right.
