Getting out of your last toxic relationship was hella tuff right? But now when you’re out of your love-hate relationship, you must be wondering how you missed all those red flags. Dude, you’re not alone! Unfortunately, a lot of us turn a blind eye to the pernicious behaviour of our partners when we are in a relationship. But it would be wrong to blame it all on love for ignoring all the warning signs. The sweet little emotion never asked us to go blind or deaf. The terrible decision of being negligent was fully ours.
And thanks to Bollywood; yep, you read that right. Indian cinema is famous for glorifying toxic relationships and awful lovers for decades now. Didn’t we all groove to Govinda’s eve-teasing songs? You could all relate when we fantasized about a Bunny for Naina or a Safeena for Murad? But not long before, I woke to the realisation that stalking, gaslighting, and forcing someone is NOT love.
We have been tricked into believing for the longest that creepy romance is love. It’s time to change that. Filmmakers did their best to glamourise it on screen and now, we gotta understand why it’s wrong. So that we are able to spot the red flags in relationships and save ourselves from all the trouble.
While we talk about toxic behaviours showcased by men, gentlemen, here we are today with some of the female Bollywood characters that you can catch this week. They will teach you about all the warning signs that you need to look out for in a relationship.
1. Natasha from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
When Kabir broke the engagement with Natasha, we all sighed with relief, didn’t we? Well, obviously Natasha was designated with ‘insecure’, ‘chudail’ and ‘presumptuous’ for some reason. Firstly, on a table full of family and relatives when Kabir showed the ring to her, she presumed that the ring was for her. She didn’t even wait for him to say anything and announced the news herself. That was quite a show!
Secondly, she was highly insecure. When she saw Leila in Kabir’s room, her thoughts went off direction and at last, she crashed her fiancee’s bachelors party. Now, one of the significant rules of a bachelors party is that your significant other should not be present there. But Natasha arrived at the hotel where her fiancee was staying and expects him to be thrilled. God no!
Along with having major trust issues, she also needed to understand the concept of space. While Kabir and his friends are dropping her off at the airport, she hints at him saying that he won’t be going on any all-boys trip after his wedding. Isn’t that suffocating?
2. Safeena from Gully Boy
Safeena is many things, but most of all she is an aggressive female or rather, an angry young female that does things without thinking. How can we forget the famous dialogue, ‘mere boyfriend ke sath koi gulu gulu karenga toh toh dhoptuingi hi na usko’. She broke the skull of another girl just because he sent her boyfriend a friend request and asked for his number? If you’re in a relationship with a Safeena, run quickly in the opposite direction.
3. Taani from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Taani is seen to be naive, innocent and shy. While she was forced to marry well-mannered office worker Surinder Sahni, it doesn’t give her the right to leave her husband and grow affection for other men, whom she doesn’t know also. Plus, coming to the root cause, Taani didn’t like Surinder Sahni because he was not ‘cool’, ‘dashing’ or ‘good looking’. She was easily attracted to Raj Kapoor because of his flashy clothes and wannabe personality. Now, who wants a girl who runs after good looks and not a good character?
4. Tanu from Tanu Weds Manu
Tanu was controlling, an alcoholic and treated her husband, Manoj, like a sidekick in her own life. So no, she wasn’t quirky, fun and free, as she has often been portrayed, it’s high time we see that. She didn’t treat Manoj as an equal and after the divorce when Manoj tried to marry another girl, she put up quite a show. Tanu is that ex who keeps recurring whenever we try to be happy in life.
5. Chiku from Pyar Ka Punchnama 2
Well, do stories like Pyar Ka Punchnama 2 really exist? Of course yes! We have seen many Chikus in our lives who are gold diggers and use their partners for their profit. Chiku who has been spoilt by her female friends doesn’t value Gogo who is in love with her. It is evident from the plot that Chiku wants Gogo to be her errand boy. Now, please girl, if you can’t treat me like a human, sorry humse na ho payega (I can’t do this).
Obviously, friendships and best friends are important in our lives but it doesn’t mean that we should start ignoring our partner because of our best friend. We should know how to balance out, which Chiku clearly didn’t know. Even if Gogo is insecure about Chiku and her best friend, as an understanding partner Chiku must have assured him and made him trust her. But instead, she called him out as an ‘insecure person’ and broke up with him. Oh boy, we need a mature girlfriend okay?
