7 protagonists who are flag bearers of red flags in Bollywood movies

What are red flags?

Red flags are potential behavioral warning signs that one should look out for. It is a spectrum that ranges from emotional toxicity to physical. Almost always gendered and laced with misogyny and male privilege, here are some influential male protagonists in Bollywood movies who are red flags!

Kabir Singh

Kabir Singh, played by Shahid Kapoor, is a celebration of toxicity, obsessive, and possessive behavior. With all the unearned entitlement, his character is full of misogyny, from him slapping the female counterpart to naming his dog with the name of his previous lover. He is what red flags are made of.

Animal

Ranvijay from Animal, with his masochism and misogynistic tendencies portrayed by Ranbir Kapoor, is the biggest red flag in Bollywood pop culture right now and would probably always be, with his absolute disregard for women, treating them with the utmost disrespect emotionally, sexually, and intellectually. This male character is so badly written, it makes Kabir Singh seem like a saint!

Raanjhanaa

The protagonist in the movie Kundan, played by Dhanush, is immoral and reflective of cancerous misogyny. Its a classic tale of man-child behavior, with going to lengths to get what you want, not being able to take a no, and resorting to self-harm to coax his romantic interest into saying yes. 

Hadh Kardi Aapne

The protagonist, Raj Malhotra, played by Govinda, is a flagbearer of toxic traits and misogyny, with his sexual harassment deemed love. and portrayal of stalking and badgering a woman till she falls in love as a thing to be normalized.

Chalte Chalte

Raj Mathur, played by Shahrukh Khan, the king of romance, is a lover boy in this movie as well. He seems like the perfect man. But soon, the red flags are visible, and how? He is overbearing and unreasonable with his affection; with toxic microaggressions and disproportionate burdens in a marriage, he is emotionally manipulative and abusive.

Bachna ae haseeno

Raj Sharma, played by Ranbir Kapoor, is a character whose arc is dynamic, like a journey to go from being a red flag to a green flag. His character entails all the red flags one wouldnt want in a partner with his toxic, non-committal fuckboy personality, treating women as objects throughout the first half of the movie. 

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Pop culture icon Bunny (Kabir Thapar), played by Ranbir Kapoor, who became a template for boys to form their identity around, is a flawed character with several red flags, including being inconsistent and a bad friend, being non-communicative, having commitment issues with a personality of a fuckboy, and subtle misogyny under the garb of a charmer.

Wake up Sid

Played by Ranbir Kapoor, Siddharth Mehra is a rich, priveleged, and lost character waiting to be saved by a manic pixie dream girl. He is a red flag in a much different sense, where you might question the behavior in terms of whether you would want to be in a relationship with such a man or not. His red flag tendencies are apparent from his indifference, nonchalance, rudeness, and entitled behavior.