Shah Rukh Khan has built a reputation for playing heroic roles, but on the rare occasions he’s portrayed a villain, he’s ensured that those characters meet a fitting end to avoid promoting the wrong message. However, his 1993 film Darr continues to stir debate for its portrayal of a dangerously obsessed character. The film featured a song, “Tu haan kar ya na kar, tu hai meri Kiran” (Whether you say yes or no, you are mine, Kiran), which seemed to glorify stalking and downplay the importance of consent.
Recently, educator Dr. Vikas Divyakirti questioned the film’s narrative, asking whether Shah Rukh’s character was being positioned as a lover or something much darker. Directed by Yash Chopra and co-starring Juhi Chawla, Darr showed Shah Rukh as a mentally unstable man consumed by an unhealthy obsession, further fueling discussions about how the film romanticized troubling behaviour.
In a chat with We Are Yuvaa’s YouTube channel, Vikas took a massive dig at Shah Rukh Khan’s Darr. “It has Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. She says no and he sings ‘Tu haan kar ya naa kar, Tu hai meri Kiran’. Which means that he doesn’t care for her consent. If you say yes, or you say no, you are mine. Yeh lover hai ya rapist hai? Yeh kaisi sense hai? (Is he a lover or a rapist? What sense is this?) This is crude masculinity.”
Vikas talked about the idea of “complicit” masculinity, often accepted in society. He used the song from Kabhi Kabhie as an example, where the lyrics suggest that a woman exists only for the man, like she was “called down from the stars” just for him. “Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai ki jaise tujhko banaya gaya hai mere liye (Sometimes I think that you are made for me). You are an object that has been made for me. Tu ab se pehle sitaro mein bas rahi thi kahin, tujhe zameen pe bulaya gaya hai mere liye (You were living in the stars before this. You have been called down for me.) What kind of bossiness is this? What a boss has called her down from the star. She doesn’t have her own life? She doesn’t have her own career? Her own dreams? You just have to be the person who gives me a sense of completion, that’s your only purpose on earth,” he said.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, inspired by the true story of Manoj Sharma’s journey from failing in 12th grade to becoming an IPS officer, had UPSC professor Dr Vikas Divyakirti playing himself. He had earlier called Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal a ‘fuhad aur badtameez film’.
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