With Animal stirring both record-breaking box office numbers and widespread debate, Emraan Hashmi has shared his perspective on the ongoing cinematic discourse around hypermasculinity and the changing landscape of Indian cinema.
What Emraan Hashmi Said
Talking to News18 Showsha, the actor said, "There's a huge uproar because a woke culture has started off through social media and generally around the world. The hypermasculine man who's seen as toxic is what's doing in theatres. There's an uproar surrounding it, but that's what people are buying tickets for. That's predominantly how our country is."
He pointed to the runaway success of Animal, despite criticism, as proof of what the audience is connecting with and said, "Why did a film like Animal work? Yes, there was a woke brigade working against it. There was a perception to that. But there were so many men identifying with it."
While speaking about the male-dominated narratives in mainstream cinema, Hashmi also stressed the need for more women-led stories, even though they face challenges in getting made.
"There's also a space for women-centric films though not many at this point. I would like to see more women-centric films being made but it's easier said than done."
Citing examples of his films like Haq and The Dirty Picture, Hashmi said, "Men in our industry are very insecure. How many people would've done a film like Haq? Every narrative should showcase a man's victory. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here. But even back then, I did a film like The Dirty Picture. I liked the subject."
"We need to get off our insecurities and do more stuff like that. But it's very clear what's happening today, cinematically. As far as things are going theatrically, you need a hyper-masculine man, a villain, the tropes, the clichés. It's very evident that it's what the audience wants. This kind of portrayal has always worked. In the 70s and the 80s, the hypermasculine era of Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna gave us films like Deewar and Trishul that worked," added Emraan.
Emraan Hashmi will be next seen in Netflix's web series Taskaree.
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