It rarely happens that fans get to watch three Shah Rukh Khan movies on the big screen in a year. On Thursday, Dunki opened up at the Box Office with an underwhelming response from fans as well as the critics. After delivering two big hits, Dunki let down many fans of the Bollywood star who were expecting something extraordinary from the film. However, one aspect of the movie that a few people pointed out has the fanbase divided on the internet.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki is alleged to be a misogynistic film by some critics who pointed out scenes that glorified body-shaming and misogyny. When it comes to misogyny in Bollywood, the name ‘Animal’ automatically comes up first in mind. The movie is under immense scrutiny for glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny.
Animal became a huge hit at the Box office and is still doing good business with a global collection in excess of ₹800 crore. The success of the movie has been used as a validation for director Vanga’s voice by his fans.
In one of the scenes in the movie, a woman asks the shopkeeper for a smaller size of the outfit she wanted to which the shopkeeper replies that the dress she wants won’t even fit her finger. The supposedly comic dialogue is indeed sexist and cannot be passed as a joke.
However, Dunki is a film by Rajkumar Hirani and has the brand of Shah Rukh Khan associated with it. This branding is allegedly shielding the movie from any form of criticism despite having scenes that can be deemed misogynistic and fat-phobic.
The post on X has received more than 1.5 lakh views and it has started a discourse between those defending the movie and the ones attacking. It is ironic that the movie is being targeted primarily by the fans of Animal.
Killshot https://t.co/3cJCH4dYd1 pic.twitter.com/PDFGmK6tG5
— RKᴬ (@seeuatthemovie) December 21, 2023
