Bad Boys Make Box Office Smile

Cinema is considered a mirror reflection of society. Perhaps that’s the reason why the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal which glorifies violence, misogyny, and abuse of women due to “daddy issues” has raked in nearly Rs 737 crore at the box office, while Vicky Kaushal’s Sam Bahadur, the story of India’s greatest soldier trudges over Rs 81.8 crore. I like it.” Fact & Fiction A study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 2022 published in the prestigious PubMed journal concludes that: “Movies with ill-mannered stories and content that glorify violence harm adolescents’ decision-making and deterrence, leading them to make risky decisions and weaken their inhibition power.” Gautam Gupte, a communication consultant at Pitchfork Partners has an interesting take. However, Gayatri Subramanian, a movie buff and student from Ruia College says, “The idea that men have to be violent and women reduced to subordinate ‘pleasure giver’ is miraculously the solution to everything seen in the film.” She feels that films like Sam Bahadur deserve better box office returns, but are often banished to the stereotypes of being a documentary film. Justifying violence in movies, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director of Kabir Singh and Animal, in a conversation with film critic Anupama Chopra in 2019 had said: “If you can’t slap; if you can’t touch your woman wherever you want; if you can’t kiss; or you can’t use cuss words then I don’t see emotions there.” Films glorifying blood-thirsty violent misogynistic protagonists are on the rise.