Men are strong. They don’t cry. Men don’t show emotions. They can’t be vulnerable. Everyone in the world faces stereotypical remarks. Smashing the patriarchy and stereotypes are these 6 male characters from the cinema world whom the audience loves.
Cinema is a reflection of society, and the characters reflect the complexities of people in real life. In the truest sense, this holds true in Bollywood, where male characters appear as an aggressive, macho character who takes the center of the stage. Majorly, the female characters portray roles as objects of romance that dance with the main lead and then disappear.
Characters are frequently reflections of those who created them. When male characters were created from a female perspective, we got a slew of stereotype-breaking characters with whom we instantly fell in love. These characters were not the usual cliche alpha-males. Instead, they were vulnerable, showcased emotions, and looked genuine and authentic. One of the highlights is how they treat the women around them.
1. Arjun, Kabir, and Imran from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti)
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is one of the perfect salutes to friendships showcased in movies. It showcased the warmth, support, love, care, and all the other feelings that one feels in their friendships. Unlike Pyaar Ka Punchnama or Masti, ZNMD didn’t shy away from portraying the flaws in their friendship. Arjun, Kabir, and Imran’s friendship isn’t perfect, and the movie captures that essence perfectly.
Imran accepting his mistake to Arjun and Kabir revealing his thoughts on marriage to Natasha are some of the critical moments of this not-so-toxic friendship. It truly sets the benchmark of what the audience wants to see in friend-centric films.
The scene where Imran meets his estranged father is so beautiful. Without any violence or abuse, both of them try to explain their sides to each other. He is reminded of why his mother and stepfather never wanted to know about him. He realizes that being a father requires more than just biological stigma.
These men were vulnerable, supportive, and supported each other throughout while smashing the stereotypes around male friendships.
2. Dan from October (Juhi Chaturvedi)
How will you define Dan and Shuili’s relationship? What did they share? The truth is that we may never know, but whatever they share is pure and innocent.
It isn’t a typical story where a boy meets a girl, and they fall in love. Dan and Shuili worked together in a hotel as trainees. They barely shared any conversation before Shiuli went into a coma. At that moment, Dan begins to wonder what could have happened between the two of them had they engaged in a thorough dialogue. The honest portrayal of the character Dan is something that is lacking in the Bollywood industry.
Dan, played by Varun Dhawan and probably one of his best performances to date, was written by Juhi Chaturvedi. Dan did not want to give up as everyone else moved on with their life, forgetting about Shiuli. He is shown to be eccentric, incredibly kind, and true to himself. ‘This is not a love story, but a story about love was the film’s message.
3. Rohan from Udaan (Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap)
Rajat Barmecha plays 16-year-old boy Rohan Singh. His father did not spend much time with him until he was expelled from his boarding school in Shimla. When he arrives home, he meets his stepbrother for the first time.
To say Rohan’s father, Bhairav Singh, is dysfunctional is an understatement. He is resentful of his father because he has never visited him in boarding school in eight years. He is callous, brutal, and abusive and orders Rohan to address him as “sir.”
Even after over a decade, this film remains popular as parents still dismiss arts and humanities, especially if their child is a boy. Rohan adored poetry and wished to be a writer. At the same time, his father wanted him to study engineering or work in a factory with him. It was because he considered writing to be an unrespectable profession.
When Rohan discovers that his father has been physically abusing his step-brother, he decides to save him and restart his life. Instead of conforming to his father’s idea of what it means to be a man, Rohan is content with his sensitive nature and embraces his uniqueness. He accepts his dreams and is tired of being in a cage. This character’s transition is one of the best transitions that one can witness.
Marked as a scene of freedom, Rohan leaves his house with his brother during the climax. The movie will make you fall in love with Rohan’s poetries and his smile.
4. Rana from Piku (Juhi Chaturvedi)
While people praised the character of Piku, which definitely needed a cheer for a brave portrayal of women, people forgot to praise Rana. They both take every opportunity to make fun of the fact that he lost his job in the Gulf and is now only running a little cab company. Rana is not impacted by it because he may be able to distinguish clearly between what is best for him and his mental peace.
But the most astounding thing about Rana was his capacity for compassion towards Piku during their arduous voyage from Delhi to Kolkata. At first, he considered Piku as bossy and scary.
Rana is a true empath who knows when to draw the line. He is evolved, perceptive, and profoundly understands people regardless of their circumstances; he goes above and beyond the ordinary. He considers himself a feminist.
In one scene, Bhashkor is enraged and insists on making a U-turn because he forgot to charge his ear machine at their last pit stop. Meanwhile, Piku attempts to end the argument and completely dismisses this ridiculous idea because they have already come a long way.
Bhashkor immediately begins chastising her for not being a good child, which is when Rana seizes control. Rana is well aware that a child’s sacrifice to maintain sanity in the face of overbearing parents is often overlooked, maybe because he is also going through the same. He appears to be someone who doesn’t care about the people around him, but it is the opposite.
5. Siddhartha from Dil Chahta Hai (Farhan Akhtar)
In Dil Chahta Hai, Akshaye Khanna portrayed Siddharth Sinha, a deep thinker who was wise beyond his years. He was comparatively a less talked about character in the film than Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan. Sid is a person who is mature and doesn’t hesitate to show his feelings. He knows how to comfort people. He values their emotions.
Despite his mother’s and friends’ disapproval, he falls in love with Tara, played by Dimple Kapadia, a divorcee much older than him. He knows he has done nothing wrong and rejects Akash’s mockery of his emotions.
Even when Tara refuses to reciprocate his feelings, the experience of being in love is enough for him. He was a thoughtful individual who offered to paint a portrait of Tara to show her how much she meant to him. His character is a patient listener who understands her past, and he is an unconditional lover who loves her until the end.
6. Sachin Sandhu from Thappad (Anubhav Sinha and Bhushan Kumar)
Thappad is an essential film in Hindi cinema. The way it deals with issues faced in marriage and how it showcases that it is not a woman’s duty to compromise is commendable. Taapsee Pannu was the film’s highlight, but what also grabbed the audience’s attention was the character of Sachin Sandhu, played by Kumud Mishra.
Sachin Sandhu is the father of Taapsee’s character. He is worried about his daughter’s mental state. He takes care of his daughter’s freedom and supports her choices, even when the so-called society expects her to compromise to save her marriage.
When Amrita asks him whether she is doing right by filing for divorce, his most straightforward and pure reaction is one tha breaks all shackles of patriarchy:
“Hum toh humesha sahi sochke karte hai beta. Galat ka toh baad main pata chalta hai…. kai baar sahi karne ka result happy nhi hota. Toh theek hai!”
He is the man who understands the limitations of a patriarchal society but does not make excuses for it. Instead, he accepts the challenge and does his bit to change society. He felt guilty for not supporting his wife in pursuing her dreams and made an effort to change, this time with his daughter.
To uncover the root cause of the problem, he asks a question to his son-in-law about hitting Amrita. No toxic masculinity is at play when he asks his son-in-law to explain why he hit Amrita.
As Sachin Sandhu does, when he realizes that he may have raised an independent daughter, he unwillingly fails his wife to pursue her dreams and his son to be a more respectful, understanding partner. Hence, he did not want to make the same mistakes as Amrita and stood by her.
7. Sunny from Dil Dhadakne Do (Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti)
Sunny Gill from Dil Dhadakne Do embodies the idealistic male character that women adore.
He was friends with Kabir and Ayesha and Ayesha’s teenage boyfriend. Even though Ayesha chose another guy due to peer pressure, Sunny does not complain or blame Ayesha for anything. He is still good friends with Kabir and has maintained a decent relationship with Ayesha.
Sunny is shown as an individual who doesn’t take pride in the privilege his gender offers. He values women. He views Ayesha as a free and independent individual with her own choices who started a prosperous business from scratch.
With minimum screen time and dialogues, he manages to win the audience’s hearts, which shows how well-written and well-acted his character is. When Sunny notices Manav, Ayesha’s husband, trying to boast about how he “lets his wife work,” Sunny asks, “Since when did she require your permission?”. He still loves Ayesha but respects her for her choices, unlike the other toxic Bollywood movie characters like Kabir Singh, etc.
Hence, Sunny is an ideal fictional character from the world of Zoya Akhtar’s directorial.
How do you feel about the male characters, given a woman’s perspective? Comment below and let us know!