Actor Swara Bhasker, in a recent interview, spoke about how her 2013 film Raanjhanaa was criticised for “glorifying stalking” and gave an example of Saiyaara, among others, to explain that showing the “pain of the victimised male” has become a trope to get easy hits.

In a conversation with Hauterrfly, Swara admitted that she didn’t recognise the issues with Raanjhanaa while she was doing it, but said that it follows the most tried-and-tested trope in Indian storytelling: showing the pain of a victimised man. She said, “While we were doing Raanjhanaa, we also didn’t realise… Himanshu is a very talented writer. His script was so funny, and nobody noticed. I definitely didn’t. I remember the first time I realised it was at the trailer launch. One journalist asked this question…It was a man, and he spoke in English. Nobody understood. Then I came back and told Himanshu and Anand sir, ‘Don’t fall for this, and don’t start defending stalking. Avoid this conversation altogether’. It was a big hit.”

Swara further stated that many hit films have similar flaws, “Can I tell you, India is full of ‘naskatuye aashiq’. I feel it’s the favourite thing of men; they want to be victims. They’ll somehow find a way to play the victims. Sabse bade victim card men khelte hain bhai (Men play the victim card all the time)! Just look at all our hits. Raanjhanaa: the poor guy dies at the end. Saiyaara: poor guy is in love but the girl is taking someone else’s name. There are many examples, like Devdas… Every big hit… Mardon ki bechargi se zyada profitable art mein kuch nahi hai (Nothing sells more than a story about victimised men).”

Directed by Mohit Suri, Saiyaara is one of the biggest Hindi hits this year. The film, starring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, grossed over Rs 500 crore at the worldwide box office.