Opinion Inspired by Bollywood

Movies are often and sometimes unfairly blamed for all manner of behavioural ills that afflict society — from violence and murder to an inability to form meaningful relationships. Rarely, though, has Bollywood been invoked as a defence for inappropriate and creepy behaviour. But this week, an Indian man escaped conviction by an Australian court for stalking two women, on the assertion that Hindi films led him to believe that a woman could not help but give in to the hitherto unwanted attentions of a man, so long as he was persistent enough. That such an argument was employed might not be cause for the film industry to rethink its portrayal of screen romance, but that a court of law actually found it persuasive, should.

This is not to suggest that the government or the scissor-happy and arbitrary Central Board of Film Certification should get involved in setting up guidelines or rules or worse, laws, for how relationships should be depicted in cinema. But it is disingenuous for the Hindi film industry to continuously and vociferously argue that it doesn’t contribute to the problematic ways in which Indian men view women. Numerous films hammer in the idea that “no” is just the opening gambit; women are open to negotiation and/or the emotional blackmail a truly lovelorn “hero” subjects her to, like in the 2013 hit, Raanjhanaa, to name just one example.

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This kind of harassment is usually rewarded with the affections of the female love interest, who has been stalked into submission, and even valourised, both within the world of the film and in the minds of at least some of its viewers. In a country where the notion of “normal” male-female interaction is already so skewed, such depictions, so divorced from reality, add to the problem.