Valentine’s Day special: How Bollywood normalises stalking and gives us creepiness in the name of love

This Valentines’ Day, here’s a look at how Bollywood’s perception of love has normalised stalking.

Bollywood has almost always normalised stalking. Be it Varun Dhawan’s attempts to woo Alia Bhatt in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, or Akshay Kumar following Bhumi Pednekar and clicking her photographs without her consent in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha or Shah Rukh Khan singing the famous Tu haan kar ya na kar, tu hai meri Kiran -- our films often tells stories that highlight stalking.

Akshay Kumar’s character in Toilet Ek Prem Katha stalks Bhumi Pednekar.

Actress Swara Bhasker, who appeared in Raanjhanaa, admitted that the Aanand L. Rai directorial glorified stalking. “When it came out, it got panned by feminists for glorifying stalking... For a long time, I refused to believe it and thought that it is not true... But then as time passed by, I was like, actually, maybe yes,” she said when she joined actress Kareena Kapoor Khan for an episode of her radio show.

Social activist Ranjana Kumari blames cinema for creating a culture of stalking women. “They show that initially women say ‘No’ but don’t take ‘No’ for a ‘No’. It is actually a ‘Yes’. It has been there since long. Stalking has been packaged in a romantic way. It conveys the superiority that men have over women. She, in any case, has to give in. It is a myth that is being perpetuated by creating this culture... She is still an object of his desire,” Kumari said.

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