Bollywoodhas long been one of the world’s most prolific storytellers, with theromances, dramas and musicals it churns out having shaped cultural perceptions of love, gender, desire and power. But have you ever wondered why is it that theman in cinema is often allowed far more leeway when it comes to romance? Sometimes the hero is outright creepy or even exhibits stalker syndrome when it comes to pursuing the object of his affection (ThinkR Madhavan inRHTDMor evenShah Rukh KhaninKuch Kuch Hota Hai) – and it is all okay! Vicky Kaushal and Richa Chadha had even collaborated with the comedy collectiveAll India Bakchod (AIB)for a spoof video (read cultural criticism) on this. As the world evolves within the context of #MeToo and feminist critique, one wonders -has the male gaze in Bollywood truly evolved as well, or is love still fundamentally celebrating the man? Perhaps, we have to first understandwhat is meant by the male gazeand understand that love is not built around male pursuit.
Coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey as late as 1975, the male gaze refers to the way visual arts are structured around a masculine viewer. In cinema, this basically translates into women being presented as objects of male desire – defined by how they look rather than who they are (yes, mostly every nineties commercial Bollywood flicks ever). Their bodies and emotions are framed through the desires and perspectives of men.
However, over time, social changes and new voices started challenged this framing. But the question remains,hasBollywoodfundamentally shifted its gaze when it comes to love stories?
Classic Bollywood romances have often centered male desire and heroism. The 1995Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in lead roles – a film that is definitive of the era, framed love through the male hero’s pursuit. While Simran is charming and spirited, the narrative is driven by Raj’s pursuit and concludes only when the man ‘wins’ the woman – that too after being approved by the heroine’s father. Similarly the 1998 Karan Johar dramaKuch Kuch Hota Haitoo sees a male gaze not just in visuals but in emotional priority. Kajol’s Anjali pines for Shah Rukh Khan’s Rahul, but the narrative arc centres on his emotional journey. The film treats her transformation into a more conventionally attractive woman as the key to deserving love. And there is something definitely unsettling about the way a dead Tina (Rani Mukerji) urges their daughter to champion her father’s feelings for his once-best friend over the child’s emotional sanity.
The 2001Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…though a family saga, revolves around male characters asserting authority, making choices, and defining the emotional terms of relationships –women be damned. What is unfortunate is that in these stories, even when women are strong and have the capability of agency, the narrative power rests with the man – their desires, their decisions and often their redemption arcs.
However, the last decade or so has seen several films that have emerged as challenges to the traditional male gaze by offering women greater emotional agency and narratives shaped by their experience of love. Foremost among these, quite possibly is the 2013Queen. Rani (Kangana Ranaut), jilted before her wedding, embarks on a solo honeymoon, instead of succumbing to heartbreak. The film is revolutionary not for rejecting love entirely but for showing a woman discovering herself that is not defined by a man’s presence. Similarly Deepika Padukone’s 2015Piku, while not a conventional romance, sees her navigate personal and emotional landscape, even as her romantic life is not a climactic destination.
The 2016Lipstick Under My Burkhais perhaps the most explicit challenge to the male gaze, in the way it paints four women seeking sexual and emotional gratification beyond patriarchal expectations.
In fact, the 2025 Anurag Basu anthology filmMetro… In Dinochallenges the male gaze by shifting love from male pursuit to mutual vulnerability, giving women interiority, dissatisfaction, and the power to choose. These films show Bollywood can and sometimes, does make space for stories where women are not framed solely as objects of desire or prizes to be won. They in turn show love depicted with nuance – a bildungsroman of self-discovery entwined in conflict, and complexity.
Basu’sMetro… In Dinoenters a romantic landscape when the grammar of love itself is evolving. Unlike older Hindi films where romance revolved around male conquest, the ensemble urban drama complicates who gets to desire, who gets to decide, and who controls closure.
Let’s be honest, even as women’s stories gain ground, there remain recurring tropes in mainstream love stories that subtly re-centre the male experience. In films likeKal Ho Naa Ho(2003) Aman sacrifices his love for Naina’s happiness - a noble gesture, but the emotional focus is his sacrifice. Similarly in the 2016 Ranbir Kapoor starrerAe Dil Hai Mushkil, The story of unrequited love places the male protagonist’s emotional suffering at the centre. A woman’s love is still treated as a reward for the male protagonist’s journey
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
