Tadap Trailer: Do Violent Bollywood Love Stories Have Place In 2021?

The Tadap trailer, starring Tara Sutaria and debutant Ahan Shetty, released Wednesday to mixed audience reactions. To those excited about the launch of a new face, including Amitabh Bachchan who promoted the trailer on social media, Tadap's release on December 3 is an event to look forward to. For the critics, the film seems to be an overdone rehash of others from the genre.

A cross between an action-thriller and romance, Tadap appears to fall in that category of Bollywood films that dwells on an over-the-top dramatisation of what it means to be in love. What's romanticised most in these stories is how far the hero is able and willing to go for his paramour - whether it is striking down the bad guys or the girl herself.

"As their passionate romance brews," the film ">says of lead characters Ishana and Ramisa, "...things turn out differently. What seemed to be a straightforward relationship gets hit by the most unexpected storm."

While the plot of Tadap is shrouded in secret, at one point in the trailer we see Shetty's character lift Ramisa off the floor with his bare hands, wildly strangling her. Such a sight is enough to tease thrill among interested viewers left wondering about the mystery behind the hero's rampant violence.

As popular as that scheme is, it prompts the question: What does it seek and achieve? Why does it still attract audiences? Should Tadap's misplaced ideas about obsessive love have a place in 2021?

Tadap Trailer: Where Does Romance Stop And Mania Begin?

This genre of films was popular in the 1990s, with the male lead redeeming his love and himself through an exhibition of violence. Darr, Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla's hit 1993 film, literally flaunts it in its subtitle: A Violent Love Story. Khan played Chawla's ">stalker, ready to kill anyone who came in the way of his ambition to 'get her.' Among viewers then, this storyline had little reproval but high intrigue. The antics of Khan's character were not condoned and yet, watching them play out on screen was fascinating.

Clearly, something about reaffirming romance with violence resonates with people. Does it perhaps measure the intensity or worth of love, which is nothing if not intense? What about unreasonably aggressive hypermasculinity still appeals to the audience's senses?

A more recent demonstration of this trope occurs in Kabir Singh, the Shahid Kapoor-starrer from 2019. Kapoor's character sees his woman as property that no one else dare touch. The violence he uncorks on her and for her is supposedly proof of his earnestness. As the film's director Sandeep Reddy Vanga put it: "If you can't slap, if you can't touch your woman wherever you want, I don't see emotion."

Emotion does have other outlets. Mutual sensitivity, respect and communication being just some of them. These rational expressions are often missing in Bollywood action-romances beyond the token love song and dance sequence. Whether Tadap will attempt to break the mould to offer some meaning remains to be seen.

Here is the trailer of Tadap:

Views expressed are the author's own. 

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