Transforming Masculinities: Media and Social Change in 21st Century India

Abstract

This paper will appraise the transforming landscape of the representations of masculinity in Hindi cinema and web series by emphasizing the changes that such representations have been undergoing in the 21^st century. Scholars underscore different types of cinematic masculinities that have been in existence within Hindi cinema (Poduval 2012; Srivastava 2014; Chakraborty Paunksnis & Paunksnis 2023). From a “five-year-plan” hero to the “angry young man”; from “global Indian” to “Hindu vigilante”, the on-screen masculinities have always been reflecting the shifting social, political, cultural or economic dimensions in India. While Hindi cinema grew somewhat darker ushering representations of men more violent and brooding in early 21^st century, there has also been a rise in representations of “affable”, non-toxic and non-violent masculinity both in cinema and in the web series. In cinema the rise is usually associated with actors like Ayushman Khurrana and Rajkumar Rao, in web series the production company The Viral Fever has been steadily focusing on non-toxic, albeit not uncomplicated representations. This rise, interestingly, occurs during the time when both in reality as well as in cinema a more muscular, nationalist version of maleness is promoted. This paper will appraise the transforming nature of representations of masculinity in 21^st century and relate the on-screen representations to shifting social, political, cultural and economic realities in present-day India.