What the Glorification of Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh Show About Indian Society
By: Sagar Suresh Kumar
Tags: Review, Sexism, Arjun Reddy, Bollywood, Misogyny

It was just a couple of months back, that an engineering student in my hometown Thrissur, was set ablaze by her boyfriend for rejecting him. This case, just like the many other crimes against women in India, involves a male lover whose toxic obsession for a girl outweighed any sort of regard for her as a person or her consent. Now, what does this have to do with Arjun Reddy or his Bollywood counterpart, Kabir Singh? Everything!

Indian films were always rampant with sexism in various colours and shades. Sometimes it is the hero who stalks and harasses the heroine until she somehow falls for him, without giving a damn about IPC 354D, and other times its the sexist dialogues in the guise of ‘humor’.

However, when Arjun Reddy was released, it generated a cult following and an appeal which was different from the movies released earlier, with fans praising its rawness and uniqueness, calling it a new chapter for Telugu films and perhaps even Indian films as such. It gave Vijay Deverakonda, who played Arjun Reddy in the film, a superstar like status, too.

The film follows the life of Arjun Reddy, a brilliant medical student with anger issues, who falls into depression, alcoholism, sex, and drugs, when his lover, Preethi, leaves him. Sadly, aside from a more open depiction of the hero’s weaknesses and the cinematography, this film isn’t quite different from its predecessors when it comes to misogyny, with scenes like:-

He threatens a woman at knifepoint when she refuses to have sex with him.

He kisses Preethi the first time he meets her, without her consent.

And well, this one doesn’t need an explanation. He actually slaps her too.

In the film, Preethi’s docile nature amidst Arjun’s macho one caters to the false idea that women like dominating and aggressive men. The scene where Arjun decides for Preethi that she should be friends with a ‘healthy’ girl because according to him, two girls can only be friends if one is ‘pretty’ and the other is ‘healthy’, is an example of this.

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This kind of dominance is prevalent in abusive relationships and also exhibited by acid attackers and other such criminals, who believe his choice is her choice, his love is her love and so on.

I should specify, that it is not the presence of misogyny and sexism in cinema that is the problem, but how it is portrayed is the problem. Films like Parched and Pink also had characters with negative shades, but they were shown in the right light, without glorifying them or normalising their actions.

As for Arjun Reddy, social media websites like Instagram were filled with the hashtag #Rowdy, mash-up videos of Arjun Reddy slapping Preethi or doing drugs with mass esque background music.

Vijay addressing his fans through the “Rowdy” tag

This section of the youth, irrespective of their gender, seems to believe his actions and vices in the movie are ‘cool’ and also seem to have developed a disturbing connection with them.

A couple of weeks back in Kerala, a Tiktok video of a boy slapping a girl with a mass film dialogue went viral, and although it was an imitation, it really shows the kind of toxic masculinity that is fantasized.

All this reinforces the notion that films, especially in India, have a profound impact on the minds of people, precedented or otherwise. Just how people will cheer to the action scenes of superstars, their dialogues and behaviour have a similar influence as well.

Once, an Indian man accused of stalking a group of women in Australia escaped conviction after blaming Bollywood for influencing him. Although this news title may seem ludicrous, you can’t really say that Indians films haven’t normalized such behaviour in the name of romance.

Bollywood has often normalized stalking and harassing women in the name of love

Sure, the director and the team of Arjun Reddy cannot be blamed completely, but the character development that they’ve set up in the film doesn’t really help either. Had the film really shown the consequences of this kind of toxic masculinity, it really would have been a game changer.

Instead, after going through a destructive phase, where he even operates on patients under the influence of alcohol, the only consequence is that his medical license gets revoked. He soon reunites with Preethi and everything is back to normal, which raises the question of what is the movie really trying to say? That it is okay to throw a tantrum and your loved one will eventually come back?

Thus, the factor of consequence is largely ignored, and the process of de-addiction, which should be an incredibly tough phase, isn’t given a worthy emphasis too.

In Devdas, a film quite similar to Arjun Reddy, the protagonist’s longing for Paro leads to his demise ultimately, and dealt with the pain love can inflict. It never had such an appeal as Rowdy Arjun Reddy had, and that’s what went wrong with the Telugu film.

Devdas, another film about a man whose life falls into ruin after his lover leaves him

Even in the scene where Arjun threatens a woman with a knife is used for comedic purposes. When he isn’t able to get what he needs from her, he walks out and pours ice down his pants to stop his erection. The entire narrative seems to solely focus on his machismo.

Only through a change in the thinking of both the film makers and film viewers, can Indian film rid itself from the clutches of toxic masculinity and sexism.

Disclaimer : This article pertains solely to the views of the writer and does not reflect our stand on this matter in any way. We strongly believe that every opinion counts, and hence provide a platform for expression of thoughts and ideas.