Everyone talks about the toxic boyfriend that Kabir Singh was or how we hate the ruthless Khilji in Padmaavat. However, no one really talks about the morally and, sometimes criminally wrong characters who were passed off as the ‘hero’ or protagonists in the film.

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We all are guilty of swooning over the bad guy in movies which is highly problematic, BTW. However, sometimes, the low-key criminals, terrorists and morally wrong people are disguised as charming and heroic characters which we end up loving because they are portrayed that way. 

Well, here’s a different outlook on these problematic protagonists. 

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Here are 5 characters who were loved by fans and cheered for despite doing wrongful and hateful things in movies:

1. Rehaan Khan (Fanaa)

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We remember Rehaan as a flirty, lover boy who falls for Zooni but we forget that it was a terrorist who was posing as the charming tour guide. 

Because the character was played by a ‘hero’, we fail to see him in a negative light. He even kills Zooni’s father while we wish they end up together as a happy family.

2. Vijay Salgaonkar (Drishyam)

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Vijay is a middle-class man and a helpless father who’s just trying to protect his family. However, he is morally and legally wrong for hiding the body of a boy his daughter killed. 

Despite being a part of the crime and a mastermind who brilliantly gets away, he is passed off as the hero and we buy it. 

3. Virendra Pratap Singh (Lamhe) 

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Viren is a predator who marries a woman much younger and someone he practically raised. 

Plus she is the daughter of his former crush who he couldn’t get because she married someone else. So, no one found this cringey?

4. Prem Mehra (Biwi No. 1)

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Does anyone hate Prem from this popular comedy-drama from the 90s? I bet not since we were naive kids who didn’t know better. 

An extramarital affair isn’t a legal offence but at least one should end their marriage like an adult. Plus, he cheats on his wife with a model he works with, lies to her face, leaves home and still thinks Pooja, his wife, is his property. 

But I guess he releases his mistake when his girlfriend dumped him so that makes him a hero somehow? Sure!

5. Mahabir Bhati (Highway)

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Not just Veera, we all developed Stockholm's Syndrome for Mahabir, completely ignoring the fact that he is a kidnapper who abducted her. 

He is a criminal that we all start to feel for and empathise with as he warms up to Veera. That is really problematic.

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