EVERY ACTOR HAS PLAYED A TOXIC MAN AT SOME POINT, SAYS MADHAVAN

R Madhavan may have charmed an entire generation with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (RHTDM, 2001), but he's well aware that his character, Maddy, hasn't aged well in today’s context. As the cult romantic film turns 24 this year, Madhavan gears up for his next release, Aap Jaisa Koi, where he plays an ageing man grappling with love and the burden of patriarchal conditioning.

- Akash Bhatnagar

Ask him how the portrayal of men with a patriarchal mindset has evolved on screen over the years, and he responds candidly: "If you look back at any Hindi film hero, you'll find that he is completely flawed. That's how Indian culture has been represented. There is no actor in the Hindi film industry whose one film or the other is not about toxic masculinity. Don't single out RHTDM — take any film before that. Any hero who has slapped or abused a woman on screen is toxic. Name one who hasn't. If you look at it retrospectively, you'll only confuse yo