Toxic masculinity is a trending topic nowadays, especially after the release of Kabir Singh starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani. It is just a movie for god’s sake. People should realize that movies do not magically convert a good person into a bad one. Here, I am compiling a list of movies that shows you the other side of the coin, Toxic female characters in Bollywood.
1. Tanu Weds Manu returns: Tanu (Kangana Ranaut)
We all remember this iconic movie and splendid performance by Kangana Ranaut, but what got a clear cut from our eyes was the toxic femininity. Yes, the toxic female character in Bollywood exists! The way Tanu handles her relationship and is possessive about her ex-husband is very disturbing. She goes to the extreme of gate-crashing her ex-husband’s wedding and insulting the new bride. That was some toxic absurdity served in the name of romance. Tanu should have understood that once things stop working out, it is okay to let it go. Let your partner find happiness.
2. Ranjhanaa: Zoya (Sonam Kapoor)
Great cinematography, and a great depiction of lives in Banaras and campus life. But here again, Zoya is an example of a toxic female character in Bollywood. She uses Kundan in every way possible and most importantly breaking off her arranged marriage. It surely gives Kundan the hope that she may be grateful to him one day and understand his love for her. But she tricks him and she doesn’t even care when he took a bullet for her. If this isn’t toxic, I don’t know what is.
3. Cocktail: Veronica (Deepika Padukone)
Veronica is a free-spirited, open-minded girl until she is not. Until she realizes that the boyfriend she takes casually and his mother whom she does not like, becomes her utmost desire in life. She is unable to handle the fact that your partner may not be comfortable with you and may need another shot at a relationship. But she turns to binge drinking, drugs and breaking stuff and all to get Gautam (Saif Ali Khan) back. Toxic toxic toxic.
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4. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan)
We may drool over the character Saba played by gorgeous Aishwarya Rai, but we can not ignore the toxic femininity that her character displays. She knows all about Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor), listens to his story throughout the plane ride, and gives him her phone number, knowing that a heartbroken fellow like him would come crawling. Not to ignore the book full of love poems that she gives him (playing with subconscious mind eh?) She lets him in, shares intimate moments only to ask him to leave during his moment of weakness. Okay, he wasn’t over Alizeh (Anushka Sharma), she too hadn’t moved on from her past relationship. She still thought of it as a lesson and kept it up on an altar, that is so not moving on. Another toxic female character in Bollywood.
5. Saheb, Biwi, Gangster: Raani (Mahi Gill)
“He can only be a partner in the bedroom, but not as a Saheb” were her exacts words as she shot her lover slash driver. She played the femme fatal, taking pleasure from Babloo (Randeep Hooda) and kills him once he starts to fall in love with her. She can accept a man as a husband only if he has stature. Status trumps love here. A great example of a toxic female character in Bollywood.
6. Saat Khoon Maaf: Sussane (Priyanka Chopra)
People are toxic and nobody knows why, some say it is Psychology, some say its a choice they make. This question is flashed throughout the movie Saat Khoon Maaf, where Sussane (Priyanka Chopra) is married 6 times and has killed all her six husbands for one flaw or the other. Never finding peace, never trying to solve things rationally. Killing is what she masters. The movie shows a toxic female character turning to God for peace in the end.
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