Bollywood movies that Glorify Eve Teasing and Stalking

Entertainment
Aug 30 2022 04:00 PM
Yukta Dawe

The incidence of eve teasing, sexual harassment, and Stalking is increasing day by day. Various people connected it with Bollywood. There is end number of movies and songs that promotes eve teasing. Various people also believe that movies are only for entertainment purpose but it is fact that it is human nature that we get affected by the movies and try to do what the leads is doing. Recently a girl is brutally burnt by his neighbor. The neighbor first stalked her and then when she denies being with her. He killed her.
Mainka Gandhi, BJP leader in an interview said that movies encourage stalking. Speaking about the movies she once said, "The man and his friends will surround a woman, trip her up...abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly-slowly she will fall in love with him, and then rest of it is, he fights with somebody or other and gets her," she further added, "Always...it starts with violence. And when we talk about the films today, exactly the same method that of 1950s (is showed)....May be we should think whether we should be using this medium to propagate violence." Here are some example of Bollywood movies which make you think that is Bollywood movies promotes toxic Behaviour/

Badrinath ki Dulhaniya: It is one of the recent examples. The movie stars Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan. The movie is about a violent stalker who harasses, threatens and even kidnaps the woman he is obsessed with, despite her repeated rejections. The irony is, the girl not only tolerates his obsessive behaviour, she actually finds the goodness in him and fell for him. Even when the ending si different, the valorisation of stalking remains. Now imagine is it possible in real life.
Tere Naam: The movie became a Blockbuster of the year In these films, the stalkers torture and ruin their victims’ lives due to their morbid infatuation before choosing their own passionate end. Ironically, the audiences lapped up the message of selfless love and honesty of the ‘heroes’ and rooted for them. The actors’ craft created a deep sense of sympathy among viewers, edging out the fact that stalking is a purely criminal act. In the movie Salman Khan Kidnapped the actress and the thing which is Pathetic is that the girl fell for Salman Khan,
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha: The movie is based on a social issue. It feel that the movie has a strong message against open defecation, can one assume its message is as much about making stalking normal and even a preferred way of wooing a woman? But Akshay Kumar stalks Bhumi Pednekar and the actress fell for him. The pathetic thing is that we find the stalking scene very normal.
Benaam Badsha: This is one of the most pathetic films in the movie the actress get married to a person who has raped her. The list of films glorifying and normalising sexual harassment is a long one. Eve teasing, stalking, endless efforts to woo the girl, and incessantly hounding her is a part of almost every Bollywood film, especially the ones that were made in the 90s.
Rehna heTere Dil me: Rehna He tere Dil me is one of the most loved movies but the lead actress herself admits that she doesn’t get it why her character get married to a stalker leaving a good guy. In the end of the movie the stalker get the girl and the descent guy leaves.
Kambakkht Ishq and Housefull 4: Yes, the blatant disregard of consent is so common in Bollywood that there are multiple movies where a woman is forcibly kissed by the hero, either to shut her up or as a way to show affection. The two listed here are just the tip of the iceberg! But forcibly kissing a girl is not okay, irrespective of whether she is your crush, your partner, or the Queen of England.
Raanjhana: Worse still are movies like Raanjhana that make stalking seem "harmless" by turning it into a joke. Stalking is not harmless and it's high time it stops being presented as romantic or funny. And rejection does not mean trying harder.