5 Problematic Lessons On Friendship That Bollywood Tried To Teach Us
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Bollywood has taught us a lot of problematic lessons in life. It has tried to justify everything from stalking to objectification and much worse. Women are often treated as eye candy to further the plot than as complex individuals who have their own thoughts and ideologies. They might try to distract us with sappy romantic dialogues, grandeur weddings, and fanciful dance numbers but that doesn’t make up for the poor writing and terrible characters. There are tonnes of people who grew up watching these Bollywood films and while time has changed and scripts have gotten better, some tropes seem to have permeated into the minds of mainstream Bollywood makers and seem to continue. So let’s take a look at five tropes and five movies that tried to teach us problematic friendship goals:
1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai: To Make Your Best Friend Love You, All Your Need Is A Makeover
Anjali was a proper tomboy and clearly enjoyed being one, but when she noticed that Rahul was only interested in the more feminine Tina, she tried to dress accordingly. I think we all felt secondhand embarrassment in the scene where Anjali showed up in neon clothes and was cruelly laughed at by her friends. But what makes matters worse is that when we see a grown up Anjali, she is dressed in a sari and has conformed to the norms set by society. She is no longer unique, or special like she used to be.
2. Kal Ho Naa Ho: It’s Totally Okay To Shame And Judge Your Friends
We still don’t get why Rohit and Aman both liked the pessimistic Naina who was unnecessarily rude to her widowed mother and adoptive sibling. Naina was also incredibly rude to her best friend Sweetu and took every chance that she got to hurt her and body shame her. From telling her she was worthless to making her feel like she was incompetent, Naina took out every single frustration she had in life on her best friend. Sure she redeems herself and becomes a better person by the end of the movie, but does that fix all the hurt she has caused Sweetu?
3. Student Of The Year: Hooking Up With Your Best Friend’s Girlfriend Is No Big Deal
SOTY taught us that it’s totally okay to catch feelings for and then hook up with your best friend’s girlfriend. Yes that very best friend who opened his heart and home to you and made you feel like you were his brother. Sure, Shanaya is mainly at fault as she was the committed one, but Abhimanyu is not a saint himself. He still made moves on Shanaya despite knowing fully well that Rohan felt so strongly for her. Big jerk move on Abhimanyu’s part.
4. Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety: All Women Are Manipulative And Only Your Best Guy Friend Cares About You
The entire movie came across as a hate fest towards women and seemed to paint every woman that Titu dated as a cruel and manipulative person. We see his best friend, Sonu, played by (you guessed it) Kartik Aaryan, who seems almost jealous that his best friend is settling down and goes out of his way to be the third wheel in his friends’ relationship. He even goes so far as to ask Titu to make a choice between Sonu and his girlfriend. Sure, she comes across as toxic and manipulative but how is that a healthy thing for a best friend to do? It feels more like Sonu is not ready to give up living the bachelor life.
5. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge: If Your Friend Isn’t Interested In You, You Must Harass Them For Affection
How can we forget the stalker’s delight that is Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge? From dangling her underwear in front of her to lying in her lap and clearly making her uncomfortable, Raj has done it all. He shamelessly pursues and flirts with Simran despite her clear disgust for it and although the pair do eventually fall in love, we must ask ourselves if this is really the kind of behavior we want to encourage. Sure, they befriend each other and have a good time when they’re together but does anybody see this relationship being able to sustain itself? We surely don’t.
Sure, times have changed and filmmakers are growing more conscientious about the films they make, but we hope these character tropes will stay out of films for good from now onwards. The only important thing is that we try to move past these toxic ideologies and consume better and more interesting content. Now that we have the internet and access to the wider web, we can have our own selection of incredible shows and movies in the palm of our hands. Tell us which movie on this list was the most problematic for you in the comment section below.
