Except a few exceptions, like Ranveer Kapoor in Animal or some Shahrukh Khan in some other recent film, We have seen a recent very peculiar films like: Sui Dhaga, Barelli ki Barfi, Chhalaang and most prominent of recent, Bhool Chook Maaf. That is, the Hero is no longer Macho, he is flawed but these indie characteristics are also qualities of some Anurag Kashyap and earlier parallel cinema Heroes, one main feature of these film's Heroes are "They are losers!"
Bollywood's deliberate attempt to depict loser masculine hints at the socio-political conditions that we are living. But this loser is not just a loser, it is complemented with a redemption arc.
For example, In Bhool Chook Maaf, Rajkumar Rao's character is a selfish idiot who bribes an agent to get a government job just for the sake of marrying his loved girl. He is far from honest, far from ideals of the socialist India, the neo-liberal Hero of India is obviously corrupt. He is not just corrupt; he is obviously corrupt.
Then, he goes through all of this redemption arc where he not only turns essentially honest but also takes a moral high ground and reclaims the position that was held by someone like Amitabh Bachchan in films like Shahenshah. What are the implications of these movies on our current societal circumstances? Let us see.
1. It is no longer possible for Cinema, especially Bollywood cinema to depict an "Ideal Hero". This is the depiction of Death of "Dream of Ideal Man and Ideal society". The real, so called, is now flawed one. Cinema is now not meant to deliver a message of the goodness, rather just runs on naive relatability factor. And I am not a big fan of Relatability. If your piece of art is relatable to a rapist, I spit on such cinema.
2. It seems essential in today's time, that is the decline of Patriarchy, Men are not the ideal of society. Women are. That is why, in all these films when the man is a loser, the woman is a single dimensional character, that is, a strong independent woman, mostly either challenging the ego of the man, or covering it for his loser behavior.
3. The redemption arc of the Hero is coming from typically the Bollywood's compulsion of victory of good over evil. So, the Hero reforms. The Hero comes out to be this empathetic welfarist man who thinks about common good now that he understands that his behavior is the contributor to the evil at large. This gives us a false hope that eventually, we will also reform and become the best versions of ourselves. But this reform for the Hero happens within 2 hours of the film, unfortunately, men who watch these films, never reform.
4. One other peculiar implication that we see in these Heroes is that they use humor extensively. It seems in films like: Stree, etc. That there are no side-heroes or comics like Johny Lever type characters in these films. The Hero itself is the comic. That is an effect of Stand up comedy and its popularity in contemporary times. The Comic is not considered a joker anymore. He is considered an artist. He is considered someone worthy of becoming a Hero.
This should not be seen as a bad thing. I think Hero has not become Funny. We can say, nowadays funny people are beginning to be accepted as heroes of today's times. Earlier, funny was associated with immaturity and naiveness, anyone serious was considered mature and socially conscious. Nowadays, this has reversed already.
Anyone serious is considered seriously pathological and naive. It is like, we are living in such difficult times that anyone who is not seen joking and lightening the mood, is considered seriously pathological and even boring. If you consider yourself a hero today, it is mandatory to be funny today. No other option.
In fact, comedy acts as a redeeming factor to the Hero's loser nature. "at least he is funny, covers up for all his lack of morality and his mischief."
4. One thing this Hero is really firm at. He is differently moral as to the socialist Hero of 80s-90s Cinema. He is not patriarchal at all. Like, even if the film is not about Gender issues, we see extensive in talk commentary about women's rights and depiction of free woman and Hero, however loser he is, supports women's freedom. The socialist hero was progressive yet retained his patriarchy in his moral stance. In fact, In case of the Loser Hero, His being loser can also be interpreted as his comfort with not winning. His comfort with his masculinity. "It is ok not to be best in everything even if you are the Hero of your own film" is the central message of this Loser Heroes' character. It is sort of a signalling, an instruction manuel for the men. What kind of men are desired in today's times by women. It is Rajkumar Rao of Stree, Bhool Chook maaf, or for that matter in Chhlanng.
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