Bollywood has a trope, a very problematic one. Where women are used as character development for badly behaved men. They turn them around, make them better people and essentially ‘fix’ them. All this, in the name of love. Has Bollywood never heard of therapy?
No woman needs to sacrifice herself to bring a man back on track in life. Here are 11 storylines that could have done without this:
1. Kabir Singh, because the entire plot was just Preeti ‘obeying’ Kabir’s orders and excusing his behaviour, while trying to change him. But little did she know, some toxic character traits just don’t go away.
2. Aashiqui 2, where a young singer tries to save an alcoholic successful one from himself. But what he really needed was AA and therapy, not a successful woman who loves smothering him.
3. Cocktail, where Gautham used Meera because she was the ‘ideal Indian woman’ his parents would approve of. The movie fed into the toxic troupe of pitching women against each other and showed that a ‘sanskaari’ girl can change a spoilt boy overnight.
4. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, because let’s be honest, Rahul was terrible. He bullied Tina the first time they met and made her feel horrible. But they obviously used that as a character arc.
5. Dil Toh Pagal Hai, because Rahul went from being babied by Naina to finding Pooja, who overlooked his flaws and narcissistic ways to accommodate him and became the fairytale woman he wanted.
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6. Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, where she forgave Maddy for his lying, stalking and betrayal because that’s what love is, right? No.
7. Dil Chahta Hai is on this list because Akash was a horrible prick, who magically grew up when he fell in love with Shalini and she ‘showed’ him the right way.
8. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, where a spoilt brat Raj, falls in love with Simran and follows her to another country. Hoping she’ll call off her wedding after he has played multiple practical pranks on her, and never once told her he actually likes her. Solid plan.
9. Munna’s character taking a 180 degree turn as soon as he begins to like Suman in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. because she wants him to be a better person, is so unbelievable.
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10. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, where Bunny left and came back to the one woman who always believed in him and waited, despite his selfish life philosophy that didn’t do him any good.
11. Viren in Socha Na Tha was confused, annoying and took advantage of Aditi to excuse his bad behaviour. Especially when he made her lie to his girlfriend’s family.
Tell us if we missed any!
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