The Rise of the Angry Hero

Anger—at injustice and inequality—spilled out on to streets and into gritty films. Its unlikely mascot? A lanky, unconventionally handsome man they often called 'Vijay'

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India was angry in the 1970s. The euphoria of freedom had faded; liberalisation wasn’t here yet. The nation’s pentup frustration found its way to celluloid, that accurate barometer of the zeitgeist. Indian films lost their playful innocence and became grittier and grounded, portraying a not-so-rosy reality. Our collective angst, fuelled by inequality and systemic corruption, found an unlikely mascot—a gangly man who did not fit any of the