Sylvie 
Bollywood has historically mirrored societal norms, but its recent trend of depicting violent Indian men as ideal lovers has sparked significant controversy. This pattern, which gained momentum with the blockbuster ‘Kabir Singh’, reached a new level of boldness in 2025’s acclaimed film ‘Tere Ishk Mein’, featuring Dhanush and Kriti Sanon.
The film ‘Kabir Singh’ opened the door to what critics call Bollywood’s ‘misogyny Olympics’, centering on a protagonist whose aggressive and sometimes violent behavior was strangely romanticized. This created a controversial archetype of male leads portrayed as troubled, toxic yet aspirational figures representing love and passion.
In ‘Tere Ishk Mein’, Dhanush embodies this archetype as the male lead. Alongside Kriti Sanon, the movie explores intense and sometimes unsettling romantic dynamics, weaving the male character’s aggressive traits into his romantic allure. This challenges traditional ideas about affection and what makes an ideal partner.
This emerging trend brings up important questions regarding the potential impact of such portrayals on:
- Audience perceptions of relationships
- Societal attitudes toward masculinity
- Normalization of violent behavior in romantic settings
Despite these concerns, films in this vein continue to achieve massive commercial success and generate enthusiastic online discussions. However, they also face considerable backlash for possibly endorsing harmful stereotypes.
Given Bollywood’s powerful cultural influence through character development and storytelling, it is crucial to critically examine the messages its popular films send. As this debate grows, industry observers and audiences around the world remain attentive to how this controversial trend will evolve and what it reveals about shifting tastes and social narratives within Indian cinema.
Stay tuned to Flick Bites for the latest updates on this and other Bollywood trends.
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