The Indian Express ·
‘No is never taken as no’: Radhika Apte says Shah Rukh Khan’s old films romanticised stalking
Radhika Apte argued that Shah Rukh Khan's older films glorified stalking and even Raj Kapoor sexualized women in films through his male gaze.
Radhika Apte has pointed out a troubling pattern in the Bollywood romances she grew up watching, as well as those that came before them. She recently confessed that though she’s a “huge” fan of Shah Rukh Khan, revisiting his old films made her realise how they glorified stalking, which in turn, formed the idea of desire among impressionable young women of that time, including her.
In a recent interview with News18, Radhika said, “Being tied and our pallu being taken off were the dreams we used to get as teenagers. How scary is that. No offence… I’m a huge Shah Rukh fan, but when I revisited some of the old films I used to like, I was really taken aback. Because when a woman says no, it’s never taken as no. Chasing a woman was romance. That’s what we wanted at that time, and it was really shocking.”