Netflix’s newest dark comedy-drama Darlings starring Alia Bhatt, Vijay Varma, and Shefali Shah in the lead roles, sheds light on the vicious circle of domestic abuse, which is unfortunately society’s most pervasive evil.
Darlings‘ depiction of Hamza perpetually abusing his wife Badru in terrible ways got a bunch of men’s rage flaring. No, not because he abused her to a point where she had to exact her revenge but because how dare the film show bichare married men in a bad light?
If you wanna place your offence in the right place, then re-watch these films that you once enjoyed with no outrage whatsoever.
1. Kabir Singh
When a senior medical student meets a junior, he assumes that she is now his property. Horrifically, he doesn’t flinch away from smacking her when things don’t go according to his plans. What does he get in the end? A happily ever after.
2. Ranjhana
The hero’s actions to pursue the heroine—stalking her around Varanasi, grabbing her hand in public, etc.—are already somewhat disturbing. The heroine’s lack of concern is what makes the situation creepier. She even claims to be pleased of his persistent daily intrusive efforts.
3. Tere Naam
Radhe Bhaiya is shown as the college’s badass stalker guy who can beat up any male and get any woman whenever he wants. Bhoomika Chawala is the most sanskari daughter ever. You try to pull this off in real life and can get instantly jailed for this.
4. Wanted
While Jhanvi is working out, Radhe harasses her, objectifies her, makes crude comments, and stalks her with his gang of henchmen. Of course, she considers these actions charming and falls in love with him. Oh and remember, he played a cop in this movie?
5. R… Rajkumar
Apart from the gut-churning gandi baat song, this movie also has other disgusting things. Rajkumar witnesses Chanda slapping a few guys who were bugging her friends. What then does our man choose to do? He waits for her to smack him to allow her to ‘touch’ him. Soon after, she’s smitten by the guy and his nauseating toxic personality isn’t a concern anymore.
6. Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
Maddy went above and above the typical stalker by fabricating his persona in order to be with the woman he desired. Additionally, he chastised her for rejecting his apologies by telling her that she should simply be happy that he didn’t exploit her while posing as her fiancé. But in the end, she decides to marry him after forgiving him of everything. How on earth did we think this movie was the epitome of romance!?
7. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha
Apart from promoting the significance of toilets in Indian households, this Akshay Kumar starter did a shitty job at illustrating romance. The man who is obviously in love with a girl who has no clue that he exists wears a monkey cap and clicks her photos while stalking her like a creepy fu*cktard.
8. Badrinath Ki Dulhania
After seeing Vaidehi at a wedding, Badri falls in love with her and decides he wants to marry her. In an effort to get him to leave her alone, she even humiliates him in front of his friend. However, he decides to pursue her in a different nation, kidnaps her, and the movie closes with their happily ever after. WTF?
9. Shiddat
This Sunny Kaushal’s character is a happy-go-lucky alpha male who clicks non-consensual pictures of a girl at a summer camp. She obviously hates the guy from the very beginning. He endlessly chases her and the plot apparently intensifies when he attempts to ‘swim’ across the English Channel to stop the girl’s wedding happening in the UK and replace her groom because he thinks he’s an ‘upgrade’ for her. The fact that his stunts cause the girl to fall in love with him and later celebrate his ‘shiddat’ for chasing her is precisely what should’ve offended you.
10. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Raj and Simran, whose love has gone down in history, also had a toxic core. Sorry to burst your bubble, but Raj harassed Simran when they first met on the train, disrupted her wedding, and just assumed that she would flee with him. For the uninitiated, he had never confessed his love for Simran in the first place.
All these films, but we only get offended when we’re slapped with reality.