Note: This article contains spoilers.Â
Shattering its Male Macho image, Bollywood for once gave us a male lead who is as powerless as real life humans. Unlike the usual male heroes, who single-handedly fight a group of goons, the character of Vikrant Singh Chauhan is different. Without being our usual hero, this powerless character leaves us spellbound as he is as vincible, vulnerable and real, as many of us. This is the character that many of us felt that couldn’t be a male lead in the Bollywood world!
In Netflix’s unconventional romantic-thriller Yeh Kaali Kaali Aakhein, Tahir Raj Bhasin plays the role of Vikrant Singh Chauhan – an engineer who dreams of a modest life with his sweetheart Shikha (Shweta Tripathi).
But, sadly, his life took an ugly turn when Purva, (Anchal Singh) the girl of his nightmares rests her gaze on him.
Unlike many Bollywood movies or series, this eight-episode show has an emasculated protagonist whose fate is swallowed by the mighty, yet manages to leave us captivated.
Another thing that sets Yeh Kaali Kaali Akkhein class apart is how it captures the love and lust from the eyes of a female. Thereby challenging Bollywood’s unshakeable male protagonists.
Unlike macho heroes, Vikrant is fearful, who pukes his guts out when he sees goons butchering bodies. He can’t even lie with a straight face, finally giving us character as close as real humans.
It is so satisfying to witness a vincible real hero on screen. It is quite amazing to see how even after becoming trophy groom for the politician’s sinister daughter, his personality doesn’t suddenly change into a ‘bad guy’. Rather it shifts from being passive to active, without impacting the plot.
How the character struggles to seek revenge with honesty makes this show quite a good watch!
How beautifully the character progresses throughout the show makes you applaud the makers. The more the protagonist tries to swim, the more he sinks. No one could deny that this show has successfully managed to flip the script in terms of how men and women are portrayed in Indian film and TV. And, we must say it is quite refreshing.
All images are screengrabs from Netflix.
