Shivudu falls for Avantika at first sight and in the name of pursuing love, he stalks her. Srivalli is paid a certain amount to smile at Pushpa. Rocky kidnaps Reena to be his entertainment. The problematic portrayal of love, objectifying women, glorifying stalking, normalizing misogyny— the age-old trend continues.
Rocky addressing Reena as entertainment was welcomed with laughs and cheers in theatres. He kidnaps her but refuses to touch her as they are not married. The plot seems familiar, isn't it? Right from our childhood we hear the story of a demon god Raavan kidnapping Sita but refuses to touch her as she is already married. But epic portrays Raavan as the villain while Rocky is the nation's new poster boy.
In Pushpa, the hero goes to the extent of paying money for a kiss. "Stalk her till she says yes," seems to be the main mantra. It's high time for the industry set a moral limit on the portrayal of love and women. Filmmakers seem to be completely ignorant of a women's consent. Is it that hard to respect a women's sexual and emotional boundaries?
Unfortunately, a majority of the audience( be it men or women) seems to love this romanticization of Stockholm Syndrome where the heroine hates the hero but falls for him midway. On the other hand, while films like Arjun Reddy are criticized for their women's portrayal, a Pushpa or a KGF escapes it.
Toxic masculinity is nothing new to Indian cinema, from the angry young man era to the savior complex, time and again we see a man saving woman from a problem and she eventually falls for him. An average Indian man loves his hyper-masculine hero who can defy gravity and break rules. However, with the rising crime against women, directors and actors taking up responsible is the need of the hour.
