Radhika Apte revisits Shah Rukh Khan’s older films, questions how stalking was shown as romance
Radhika Apte Reflects on How Older Bollywood Romances Framed Pursuit and Desire
Bharatmorning.com – Radhika Apte has revisited some of the Hindi films that shaped her idea of romance as a young viewer, and found parts of them far more troubling with distance. The actor, who describes herself as a devoted Shah Rukh Khan fan, said she was struck by how frequently a woman’s refusal was treated not as a boundary but as an invitation for the hero to continue pursuing her.
Her remarks raise a wider question about the romantic storytelling that many audiences grew up with: how certain onscreen gestures once presented as grand declarations of love can now be viewed through a more critical lens. In several popular narratives, persistence after rejection was framed as proof of devotion, while the woman’s discomfort or lack of consent was often folded into the plot’s idea of courtship.
Looking Back at Familiar Films
Speaking about the effect such depictions had on young audiences, Apte said that returning to films she had once enjoyed was an unsettling experience. She explained that the portrayal of love in those stories influenced how romance and desire could be imagined during adolescence.
“Being tied and our pallu being taken off were the dreams we used to get as teenagers. How scary is that,” she said.
Apte made clear that her criticism was not a rejection of Shah Rukh Khan, whose work she continues to admire. Instead, she described the shock of recognizing patterns in older films that had seemed normal or romantic at the time.
“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.”
The observation speaks to the changing vocabulary around consent in popular culture. A scene can be remembered fondly for its music, star power or emotional intensity while still prompting difficult questions about the behaviour it celebrates. Apte’s point is that a refusal should retain its meaning, rather than becoming a storytelling device that allows the pursuit to continue.
Desire Through a Predominantly Male Lens
The discussion also explored the representation of desire in earlier Hindi cinema. Shakun Batra, who has directed a segment in Lust Stories 3, referred to Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker from 1970 and Ram Teri Ganga Maili from 1985. He noted that Raj Kapoor was willing to engage with desire in his films, though those stories largely remained rooted in a male perspective.
Apte agreed that this point of view was central to the issue. For her, the problem was not simply that women were shown as desirable on screen. It was also the contradictory framework around them: women were sexualised, yet they were simultaneously expected to represent a narrowly defined version of virtue, purity and moral acceptability.
“But even at that time, the gaze was always male. And the women were sexualized,” she argued. “You’re putting that element down and making jokes at its expense anyway. That’s the problem — the sexualisation of women, and then by saying, ‘Don’t sexualize them’, and then calling them devi, and putting them on some pedestal of morality that you approve of. I find that problematic.”
Her comments underline the tension in many screen narratives involving women’s sexuality. A character may be placed at the centre of visual attention while being denied an equally full interior life, agency or control over how she is perceived. The same story can then impose moral expectations on her, creating a double standard between desire and respectability.
For viewers revisiting older films, these questions need not erase the cultural importance of the works or the affection associated with their stars. They can, however, encourage a more careful reading of the assumptions embedded in familiar scenes. The way cinema presents romance can influence social expectations, especially when repeated images make certain forms of behaviour appear desirable.
Apte’s Return in Lust Stories 3
Apte’s comments come as she returns to Netflix India with Lust Stories 3. The anthology features four stories directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj.
The project also includes Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma and Abhishek Banerjee, alongside Aditi Rao Hydari, Radhika Madan, Sana Thampi, Siddharth, Ali Fazal and Gurfateh Pirzada. By bringing together multiple filmmakers and performers, the anthology continues a format built around varied perspectives and individual stories.
Apte’s reflections on older cinema place that newer work in a broader conversation about how Hindi films have approached intimacy, attraction and women’s choices. As audiences reassess beloved movies with present-day awareness, the debate is not only about what appeared on screen decades ago. It is also about what kinds of relationships cinema encourages viewers to recognise as healthy, mutual and romantic.
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