Are Indian and Pakistani movies are ruining men and degrading women?

I had written a blog about how item numbers in Indian and Pakistani movies are problematic. Women wearing revealing clothes, exposing their bellies mostly and dancing to catchy songs with weird lyrics is appalling. Men who are also part of the song are enjoying this, revealing their lustful expressions to the camera. Women are objects and men are perverts, that’s what it tells.

It’s sick because a woman’s worth is relegated to her body and it’s okay for a man to reveal his lustful nature or worse, perverted tendencies, going so far as to harass women. It’s okay in Indian and Pakistani cinema where a man, no matter how much of an a**hole he is will get the woman he is stalking, slapping, harassing. It shows that a woman has to be submissive to the most predatory man. No wonder desi marriages are toxic.

I am watching Tried & Refused Productions on YouTube where its content creator, I applaud his stamina for digging out the most cringiest content in Indian movies, is exposing the most weirdest, sexist and misogynistic scenes and dialogues in movies where you’ll bang your head or want to puke. It’s not just Hindi cinema but Telegu and Tamil language films which also contain the most cringiest content. Most of it contains a man being an a**hole and the woman being stupid because she falls in love with the a**hole.

I haven’t watched a lot of Bollywood movies when growing up. However, I do remember the problematic and weirdest scenes and stories that gives me the jeebies. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Kajol’s character is being wedded off to some dude in India who is an a**hole. Meanwhile, she encounters Shah Rukh Khan’s character on a train to Europe who is also an a**hole. Not only he teases and humiliates her (he squirts water on her) but ends up being her desirable man. You can disagree with my opinion but if I were to rewrite the script for this movie, I would had let Kajol’s character run away to Europe and never come back. Every desi girl’s dream!

The problem is, these item numbers in Pakistani and Indian movies keep coming and there is no stopping. Clearly, the supply and demand of the ‘content cringe’ in desi stamina isn’t stopping even post-2020 or the post-MeToo Movement. The question is, when will the filmmakers realize degrading women as objects and men as sexual creatures is not okay. Most importantly, the audience has to step up, to speak against this ‘content cringe.’

It’s sickening that actors, both female and male who want to make it big in the film industry are forced to take these roles. I remember Deepika Padukone’s first film, Om Shanti Om, where the first song she is performing, is wearing revealing clothes most of the time. Even Shah Rukh Khan is sexualized in my opinion in the song Dard e Disco.

Perhaps the biggest item numbers or the most talked about when I was growing up were Munni Badnam Huwi from the movie Dabaang and Sheila Kee Jawani from the movie Tees Maar Khan. Out of these two, Dabaang was a box-office smash. However, these two item songs were playing all over in India and Pakistan. I remember Munni Badnam Huwi being played in a morning show in Pakistan, that too on Eid.

Where do we draw the line?

The question I want to raise is, are these item songs and cringe content is leading to degrading both sexes? Are men approaching women in a predatory behavior just like in the movies? This is real life and women do not give a s**t if you’re being an a**hole? Then what happens?

Harassment? Abuse?

Rape? Gang rape?

It’s giving me goosebumps.

Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi has repeatedly spoke against item songs. Although it is worth to note he participated in one, it is also important his acknowledgement that it’s wrong. Some might argue it’s art. A very bad form of art indeed.

An advocacy movement has to take place to ban or revisit cringe content and item songs and upcoming movies should not have this type of content. The problem lies with the supply and demand. Audiences love item songs and cringe content. That’s why content like this keeps releasing because the audience loves it.

Things can change through educating the audience. This blog is a start.

Let me know in the comments how y’all think.