Satyaprem Ki Katha and why do survivors in Bollywood films need mansplaining saviours?

First, the glorification of a clueless, unambitious man who finally finds his purpose when he falls in love and takes on his wife/partner as his project. Second, the familiar tale of how a female survivor of assault, divorce, heartbreak or injustice of any kind needs a male saviour who mansplains to her about how she can get justice, move on, or stand up for herself.

Kartik Aaryan’s Sattu aka Satyaprem is supposed to get our empathy because he is a full-grown man who cleans his own home and washes utensils. However, he becomes noble because he won’t abandon his wife when he comes to know about her past trauma and reiterates that he is okay playing the role of supporting hero in her life. Her suffering become his chance at self-improvement.

Kiara’s Katha has the best line in the film where she asks why men understand a woman’s interest in them immediately but find it so hard to understand the same woman saying ‘no’. Sadly, Katha has no katha (story) of her own till she becomes Satyaprem’s Katha. She tells her in-laws the truth about being the victim of sexual assault because Sattu keeps telling her that there is no need to think twice about speaking the truth. She decides to file an FIR against her attacker because Sattu brings the court papers to a family gathering and proceeds to announce that she is a rape victim. Katha even declares that the best decision she took was to marry Sattu who as we see, passive aggressively bullies her to start healing.

Far too often in Bollywood, women who survive trauma or heartbreak of any kind are merely drowning in a cocktail of tears and shame before a hero comes along who accepts them even though they aren’t- to paraphrase a line from Made in Heaven- ‘as pure as ghee’. The scarier sub category of the ‘male saviour for female survivor’ plot idea is when this man more often than not ends up being a husband. In a shocking number of films in the 80’s and 90’s, a rape victim seen marrying her rapist because having lost her virginity, she had no other way to live an honorable life. Benaam Baadshah, starring Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla and Raja ki Aayegi Baraat that had a very young Rani Mukherjee are just some of the many examples of this horrifying story idea.

Vanraj from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam became the dream husband because he decided to reunite his wife with her boyfriend. We instantly rooted for Ajay Devgn because while selfless women are a given, a selfless husband deserves admiration. Manmarziyan, directed by Anurag Kashyap has Abhishek Bachchan playing a Vanraj 2.0 who calmly tells his wife that she can go back to the man she loves. They separate but she eventually goes back to the husband because he helps her realise what true love is and tames her wild side.

In Prem Rog, Rishi Kapoor’s Devdhar became friend, philosopher and social activist to Manorama (Padmini Kolhapure) who becomes a widow only a few days after her marriage. She is a weeping victim till he decides to take up the task of rebuilding her life. Damini saw Meenakshi Seshadri taking stand against her in-laws after her brother-in-law rapes their house help. However, she is unable to get justice till Sunny Deol decides to raise his dhai kilo ka haath, and takes up her case.

Even in seemingly or actually progressive films like Pink, Piku, Dear Zindagi and Ek Ladki ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, the leading lady always needs a man or male help to find justice or her own voice. Whether its Amitabh Bachchan giving us a searing monologue on consent 101 as he defends Taapsee and her friends, SRK playing a therapist to Alia and helping her resolve her mental health concerns, Rajkummar Rao and Anil Kapoor battling for Sonam Kapoor who comes out of the closet, or even Irrfan who has a rare saviour moment when he stands up for Piku and tells her father to stop emotionally manipulating his daughter.

The fact that so many of us didn’t even question this speaks to a larger social mindset where helping women or simply being supportive is a means to greatness for men. Perhaps it stems from the all the fairy tales we read where princesses are literally sleeping or trapped in towers till a prince comes along and rescues them. Or it’s rooted in mythology because Sita waited for Ram to come and rescue her, and Draupadi was saved from being disrobed by Krishna who created an unending sari during the vastraharan. Maybe it’s because gods, prophets or spiritual heads in other major religions are all male too. This cultural baggage plus a very low benchmark for what makes a ‘good man’ or a good husband, put men on pedestals for basic human decency.

A thoughtful and sensitive partner who offers unconditional love is a boon, but in the year 2023 we need to let go of the idea that marriage is the means to a better life, or that men in general are meant to rescue women from their problems. Let Katha have her own katha, while Sattu just offers his Satyaprem (true love).