Examining Toxic Masculinity under the Guise of ‘Romance’ in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Hindi Films

Juhi Singh; Shubham Pathak; Swasti Mishra

doi:10.5195/cinej.2026.806

Examining Toxic Masculinity under the Guise of ‘Romance’ in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Hindi Films

Authors

Juhi Singh Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4862-057X
Shubham Pathak Indian Institute of Technology(BHU) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8900-0079
Swasti Mishra https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3854-7637

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.806

Keywords:

toxic masculinity, violence, gender dynamics, Vanga’s films, romance, Bollywood

Abstract

Cinema is a powerful medium capable of normalizing or stigmatizing societal practices and of significantly influencing cultural paradigms. This study analyzes Vanga’s Kabir Singh (2019) and Animal (2023) in terms of their portrayals of masculinity and romance. It demonstrates that these films consistently romanticize dominance and aggression, presenting them as integral to male identity and passionate love. By framing controlling and violent behaviors as signs of passion and love, they reinforce patriarchal norms rather than critiquing them. While each narrative depicts a hero’s emotional struggle, both ultimately justify toxic masculine traits through their resolutions. This research situates Vanga’s work within broader cinematic and cultural trends, showing how blockbuster popular culture can shape gender expectations. The analysis reveals that love in these films is portrayed as a vehicle that excuses brutality and grants redemption to the abuser, a message with dangerous implications for audiences. Given the massive reach of these films, their normalization of abuse under the guise of romance risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes about gender and relationships in Indian society. The findings highlight the need for critical media literacy and more responsible storytelling to challenge these damaging tropes.

References

Balabantaray, S. R. (2022). Impact of Indian cinema on culture and creation of world view among youth: A sociological analysis of Bollywood movies. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2405

Banaji, S. (2006). Reading 'Bollywood': The young audience and Hindi films. Springer.

Burge, A. (2020). Introduction to the special issue on The Sheik. Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.70138/VAGQ9894

Butler, J. (1997). The psychic life of power: Theories in subjection. Stanford University Press.

Chakravorty, N., & Bera, S. (2024). Portrayal and perception of male chauvinism and gender superiority in Hindi cinema: A case study of the film Animal. Journal of Communication and Management, 3(1), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.58966/JCM20243112

Chopra, R. (2007). Reframing Masculinities in Contemporary India. Orient Blackswan.

Clayburn, J. (2024). Review of Abstinence cinema: Virginity and the rhetoric of sexual purity in contemporary film, by C. R. Kelly. Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 13, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.70138/NDAM7292

Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd Ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & society, 19(6), 829-859. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/0891243205278639

De Beauvoir, S. (2016). The second sex. In Social theory re-wired (pp. 367-377). Routledge.

Dixon, J. (2020). The depiction of masculinity and nationality in The Sheik. Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 9, 1–5 https://doi.org/10.70138/SZDL2262

Dobash, R. E., & Russell P. D. (1979). Violence Against Wives: A Case Against the Patriarchy. Free Press.

Flood, M. (2016). Involving men in ending violence against women: Facing challenges and making change. Graduate Journal of Social Science, 12(3), 12-29.

Ganguly, D., & Singh, R. (2021). Reading patriarchal manhood, violence and love in Kabir Singh (2019). South Asian Popular Culture, 19(1), 15–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746689.2021.1879094

Gokulsing, K. M., & Dissanayake, W. (2004). Indian popular cinema: A narrative of cultural change. (2nd Ed.). Staffordshire: Trentham Books Limited.

Harrington, C. (2021). What is “toxic masculinity” and why does it matter? Men and Masculinities, 24(2), 345–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X20943254

Haywood, C., & Máirtín M. G. (2013). Men and Masculinities: Theory, Research, and Social Practice. Open University Press.

Hearn, J. (2015). Men of the World: Genders, Globalizations, Transnational Times. Sage Publications.

hooks, b. (1999). All about love: New visions (1st Ed.). New York: Harper.

Kakar, S. (1990). Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality. University of Chicago Press.

Katz, J. (2011). Violence against Women—It’s a Men’s Issue. Media Education Foundation.

Kimmel, M. (2008). Guyland: The perilous world where boys become men (1st Ed.). New York: Harper.

Kimmel, M. S. (2010). Men’s lives (8th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Maas, M. K., & Bonomi, A. E. (2021). Love hurts?: Identifying abuse in the virgin–beast trope of popular romantic fiction. Journal of Family Violence, 36(4), 511–522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00206-9

Menon, P. (2004). Whose feminism is it anyway? The “empowered woman” in Bollywood (Master’s thesis). University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago.

Messerschmidt, J. W. (2019). Hegemonic Masculinity: Formulation, Reformulation, and Amplification. Rowman & Littlefield.

Milestone, K., & Meyer, A. (2020). Gender and popular culture (2nd Ed.). United States: Polity Press.

Nandakumar, S. (2011). The stereotypical portrayal of women in commercial Indian cinema (MA thesis). University of Houston, Texas, United States.

Nandy, A. (1983). The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism. Oxford University Press.

Pathak, S. (2025). Transgressing subaltern voices: A discursive study of language and stigmatization in Begum Jaan and Gangubai Kathiawadi. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, 20(2), 139–155. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-008X/CGP/v20i02/139-155

Pathak, S., & Mishra, S. (2025). Discursive strategies of women’s use of their beauty and body for revenge: A comparative study of classical and contemporary Hindi films. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 42(6), 1491–1505. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2023.2262352

Rajan, R. S. (2003). The Scandal of the State: Women, Law, and Citizenship in Postcolonial India. Duke University Press.

Rotundi, L. (2020). The issue of toxic masculinity (MA thesis). Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Rome, Italy.

Sreekumar, R., & Raj, S. J. (2022). Tit for tat: Avenging women and self-fashioning femininity in Malayalam cinema. In S. Delahousse (Ed.), Transnational crime cinema (pp. 107–122). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781399505673.003.0007

Tasker, Y. (1993). Spectacular Bodies: Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. Routledge.

Vanga, S. R. (Director). (2019). Kabir Singh [Film]. India: T-Series, Cine1 Studios.

Vanga, S. R. (Director). (2023). Animal [Film]. India: T-Series Films, Bhadrakali Pictures Cine1 Studios.

Viswamohan, A. I., & Chaudhuri, S. B. (2020). Bollywood’s angromance: Toxic masculinity and male angst in Tere Naam and Kabir Singh. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, 5(2), 146–170.

Wetherell, M., & Edley, N. (1999). Negotiating hegemonic masculinity: Imaginary positions and psycho-discursive practices. Feminism & psychology, 9(3), 335-356.

Wuss, P. (2009). Cinematic narration and its psychological impact: Functions of cognition, emotion and play. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Downloads

Published

2026-05-22

How to Cite

Singh, J., Pathak, S., & Mishra, S. (2026). Examining Toxic Masculinity under the Guise of ‘Romance’ in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Hindi Films. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 14(1), 442–471. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.806

Download Citation

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026): Spring

Section

Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
The Author represents and warrants that:
1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
4. the Work has not previously been published;
5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.