Over the years, Bollywood has given us several romantic films that taught us what an ideal couple looks like. But Hindi cinema has also given us notes on what not to do in a healthy relationship— may it be cheating on one’s partner or domestic violence. So today on Couples Day, let’s revisit Bollywood films that introduced us to toxic couples who set goals of what not to do: Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba (2024) As actors, Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey were incredibly versatile as Rani and Rishu.
One cheats and the other turns into a sadist. Eventually, they find love in one another. Well, in real life, the two characters could have easily passed off as red flags.
Don’t even get us started on Sunny Kaushal aka Abhimanyu’s psychopathic personality Animal (2023) Ranbir Kapoor delivered one of his most powerful and impactful performances as Ranvijay, dropping jaws with his ‘alpha-male’ persona. But the film was also trolled for glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. The worst was how he treated his wife Geetanjali, played by Rashmika Mandanna.
May it be cheating on her, no matter what his ‘intention’ was, or continuously pulling at her bra strap to hurt her. No way bro Darlings (2022) Watching Badrunissa aka Badru, played by Alia Bhatt, getting revenge from her wife-beating alcoholic husband Hamza aka Vijay Varma was delightful! But that’s not how things work in real life. So if you see similar signals of abuse in a relationship, stop thinking that you can.