Cinema VinesRadhika Apte, a long‑time admirer of Shah Rukh Khan, recently reflected on how the romantic tropes of older Bollywood films have shaped her perception of love and desire. Speaking to News18, the actress admitted that scenes she once found charming now feel unsettling, especially those that depict a male protagonist persisting in a chase even after a woman has said no.
Apte explained that as a teenager, the idea of a man tying a woman’s hair or pulling off her pallu was considered a dreamlike romance. She said, “Being tied and our pallu being taken off were the dreams we used to get as teenagers. How scary is that.” The actress added that revisiting classics such as those starring Shah Rukh Khan made her “taken aback” because the films treated a woman’s refusal as merely a hurdle in the pursuit of love.
During the interview, the conversation broadened to cover the male gaze in Bollywood’s golden era. Shakun Batra, one of the directors of the anthology series Lust Stories 3, noted that while films like Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker (1970) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) explored desire, they still largely told stories from a male perspective. Apte agreed, pointing out that women were often sexualised while simultaneously expected to embody a narrow sense of morality and goodness.
She said, “But even at that time, the gaze was always male. And the women were sexualised. You’re putting that element down and making jokes at its expense anyway. That’s the problem — the sexualisation of women, and then by saying, ‘Don’t sexualise them’, and then calling them devi, and putting them on some pedestal of morality that you approve of. I find that problematic.” Apte’s comments highlight the tension between traditional romantic narratives and contemporary views on consent and representation.
In addition to her reflections, Apte has returned to Netflix India as part of the anthology Lust Stories 3, which features an ensemble cast that includes Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Aditi Rao Hydari, Radhika Madan, Sana Thampi, Siddharth, Ali Fazal and Gurfateh Pirzada. The series brings together four filmmakers—Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj—to explore modern relationships through four distinct stories.
Monica Yadav, a senior entertainment journalist with the Hindustan Times, covered the interview. With nearly eleven years of experience reporting on Bollywood, Hollywood and Asian cinema, Yadav has a broad perspective on how evolving cultural attitudes are reshaping the film industry’s portrayal of romance and gender dynamics.
