As entertaining as Bollywood is, the problem with it is that it gives a ‘cult classic’ status to some of the most problematic films ever made. Take Kabir Singh for instance, the movie that acquired an immediate liking and popularity, despite being one of the most toxic films to be ever made. 

And if we were to actually think back to other such kinds of problematic movies, the list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the 2003 release - Tere Naam. 

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Usually, simply stating the fact that Salman Khan starred in it, is enough to get the point across. But this time, let’s dive in deeper to know just how many times I had to hit my head on the wall for my common sense to leave my body and this movie to register in my head as the shit-show it was.

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Radhe Mohan (Salman Khan) is a typical good for nothing spoilt brat. Not interested in studies, always bullying people and roaming around aimlessly in life with his friends. And if that was not enough, he also has a haircut that is physically painful to watch. 

The only way he justifies his pointless existence is by occasionally beating up bad guys who try to harass women. And perhaps that’s the irony of the film, one that you will figure out as you read on.

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Enter Nirjara Bhardwaj, a student from his former college and the Indian prototype of a woman that is usually accepted and welcomed with open arms. Why? Because she is soft-spoken, timid, without a spine and knows how to not stand for what she wants. 

Indian society and Radhe, both immediately fall in love with her at first sight. Whatte cliche!

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However, Radhe being the lunatic and hooligan he is, intimidates her and her fiance Rameshwar. He does so to the point that the woman finally speaks up and asks Radhe to f*ck off. Of course, he doesn’t, because societal conditioning has taught every man that the meaning of a ‘no’ is actually to try harder. Which is exactly what he does.  

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In the meantime, Radhe gets involved in beating up guys who are trying to run a brothel in which, somehow, Nirjara’s sister gets involved. Radhe ends up beating quite a few goons and saving her sister, seeing which her father tells him how Radhe might actually be a nice and kind man at heart. 

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Radhe, however, snaps back to his d*ck-self pretty damn soon, for he then kidnaps Nirjara to tell her how he feels for her. Because his funda is clear, ‘if you love her, you don’t let her go. Instead, you kidnap her and tie her in a remote place and threaten her for her life’. Real classy and romantic. 

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He not only ties her up and keeps her in an abandoned warehouse of sorts, but also shouts at her and breaks down in front of her, scaring the shit out of her. However, love and Indian filmmakers being blind as they are, turn that super problematic moment into a romantic one. 

Safe to say, consent is as lost in the movie as Nirjara’s conscience or agency to speak.

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Nirjara then finally falls into love with the seemingly psycho man and at the same time, glorifies this really f*cked up and toxic love story. Because that is just what Bollywood’s undertone for love stories is always is - glorifying toxicity and misogyny. 

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But all's well, that doesn’t end well, because karma and the goons who were beaten up by Radhe, come back at lightning speed to take their sweet revenge.

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They beat the living shit out of Radhe, and we have to admit, it did make us feel sorry for the guy. Thrashing him up near the train tracks, they beat him to the point that he suffers thorough brain damage and is later admitted to a mental institution. 

Nirjara keeps praying and waiting for him, and even when Radhe recovers, the wardens misunderstand him and beat him up instead. 

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Convinced that there is no hope of Radhe being with Nirjara, his brother asks Nirjara to carry on with her life and marry her former fiance Rameshwar. 

Somehow, on the day of the wedding, Radhe escapes the mental institution and crashes the wedding only to see that Nirjara has instead committed suicide. 

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Because she would rather take her own life than marry someone else. Not that the option of staying unmarried wasn’t on the table, but for the sake of adding a tragic flare to the story, we are presented with a sob-fest of an ending. 

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Radhe, completely broken after witnessing the death of Nirjara, willingly goes back to the institution despite his family pleading otherwise. 

The movie ends as we see an old Radhe, still tying peacock feathers in Nirjara’s memory. And that is how, rage, toxicity and bullying, ends up ruining the lives of nearly everyone in the movie.

The End.

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