Indian Cinema Is In Its Era Of ‘Masculine Frustration’ & It’s An Overkill

Two things come to mind when we talk about Indian cinema today: a) there’s just too much money being devoted to films, b) now is the era of masculine frustration. So, we’ve films that are high-budgeted, with expenses that leave us counting zeroes. Then there are men, lead actors, trying very very hard to prove that they have the power – the literal kind. And both these things are about competition; of who shows off more assertion. Of course, it’s not like this is especially new – us witnessing the male rage – because that has always been there. “Men being men,” so to speak. What’s new, is the regression that comes with it.

Some of our favourite leading actors are picking aggressive roles, film after film. I understand that this sounds like ‘another woman ranting about feminism’. That’s one way to look at it. Another, more logical way is to see the impact that it has on cinema and hence the audiences. Audiences pick up traits from the celebrities that they like – even if that means following something blindly that some character did on-screen. The fact that there hasn’t been a redemption from Kabir Singh is proof that this impact is always negative. The film did everything under the sun that is considered offensive. What did the industry do? Started making more such films.

Let’s even put feminism aside for a while, because clearly, that’s the only way to get some attention. We’ve been noticing so many action-thrillers recently that look exactly the same! The fact that a lot of us kept confusing Jawan with Pathaan is an exhibit. So, these are formula films; because when box office numbers were apparently down for Bollywood, producers picked up on what was working. This was also the time when cinema in South India was doing better in terms of numbers – which is actually a good thing – the fact that regional cinema got its due. However, people in the industry started picking major elements from some successful films and changed tiny details for every other project.

There’s a hero with abs, women who are sexualized, a villain who’s invincible (but not for our hero), some dance numbers and dialogues that show lack of effort. If that’s not formula, I don’t know what is.

Yeah fine, audiences have the right to choose the kind of cinema they want, but we need to draw a line at some point. If we’re giving people films that insult and demean women, we are in-turn normalizing this. Allu Arjun won a national award for Pushpa, which is just more proof that people aren’t concerned about the misogyny, it’s actually rewarded for being ‘entertaining’. This does not mean that we want people to look away from the actor’s craft, but we cannot also look past the terrible messaging. THIS national award win lines up with Kriti Sanon’s performance in Mimi and Alia Bhatt’s in Gangubai Kathiawadi – both films, which were lauded for portraying strong women.

So if women are expected to do work that shows them as empowering, why does nobody care about men’s responsibility, here? What are they doing to right the wrongs?

Not that we can let go of the misogyny in this male frustrated era, but seriously, it’s not even good work cinematically. So, if you’re arguing that art can be flawed and we need to look at the work objectively, um, it’s not… good *ahem, Gadar 2, ahem*. It’s just a blend of elements that lack effort, which shows. I’m not questioning the writers, musicians and other artists/crew involved. We are very well aware of the interference that most of these leading actors have in the production of a film. There have been instances of actors getting writers to change the plot and dialogues, or even replacing women actors. I mean, that’s just more of the same masculine frustration.

The worst part is, that this pattern has become a habit; and people who find ways to demean women every now and then, ENJOY this type of cinema. The reactions to Animal, even before its release is proof. So, it’s disappointing that we’re not only going back in time, but also that we’re doing something that’s clearly not right. We live in times where people can finally access every opinion that exists about a discussion. So, if these are the kind of opinions that we are celebrating, we should know what we’re dealing with. It’s also concerning, because when we have the power to know more, we also have the power to ACT more. This makes every little discussion sensitive, because we shouldn’t be saying or doing something that can eventually cause more harm.

Again, none of this is about the actors’ abilities. These are men who have done good work. These are also men who have the power to change discourse through their work – so why aren’t they trying?