If you thought Indian cinema was heading for a sophisticated future of nuanced, female-led storytelling, I have some bad news. After a brief flirtation with intelligence in 2024, the box office has sprinted back into the sweaty, muscular arms of the hypermasculine hero. 2025 was the year of the “juggernaut” thriller, where the lead actor spends more time screaming at things and blowing them up than he does having a conversation.
The biggest hit of the year was Dhurandhar, an espionage flick that basically uses graphic violence as a substitute for a plot. It seems the “Angry Young Man” is back, but he has had a personality transplant. In the 1970s, Amitabh Bachchan played the angry hero as a man fighting a corrupt system. Today’s version just seems to be a man fighting his own lack of a therapist.
The Rise of the Toxic Rockstar
The charts are currently full of men performing “vengeance at full volume.” Take the film Tere Ishk Mein, for example. It stars Dhanush as a volatile man who essentially eclipses a successful woman’s career with his “obsessive love.” It made a fortune, proving that while critics might call it toxic masculinity, the audience calls it a Friday night out.
| Year | The Vibe | The Outcome |
| 2024 | Women-led, global awards, smart plots. | Critics loved it, banks were confused. |
| 2025 | Explosions, gym memberships, screaming. | Record profits, zero nuance. |
Streaming vs. Reality
We used to hope that streaming platforms would be a safe space for better stories. Unfortunately, they have started “chasing box office logic.” Female led stories on streaming apps dropped from 31% in 2022 to a measly 12% in 2025. It turns out that even the algorithms have a preference for guys in leather jackets holding heavy weaponry.
Historically, the “Angry Young Man” was a product of social unrest and unemployment. Today’s version is a product of post-liberalisation greed and power fantasies. Characters like those in Animal or Pushpa aren’t trying to fix the world. They just want to own it, humiliate their rivals, and look cool while doing it. They don’t fight the corrupt system, they simply become a more muscular version of it.
A Glimmer of Hope in the Margins
It isn’t all testosterone and gunpowder, though. Smaller regional films are still doing the heavy lifting for actual art. In Malayalam cinema, Feminichi Fathima used humour to show a housewife’s quiet rebellion. These “quieter movements” are working from the margins, telling stories about real people while the big stars are busy pretending that obsession is the same thing as passion.
If you are looking for a hero who doesn’t solve every problem with a roundhouse kick or a stalker-level phone call, you might have to look past the top ten list.
The audience has spoken, and apparently, they really like watching men have a very loud, very expensive mid-life crisis on screen.
Related topics: Asia
