‘Kabir Singh’ to ‘Chand Mera Dil’: Transformation of violence in relationships in Hindi films

From slaps being normalised as “passion” to films interrogating masculinity and emotional abuse, Hindi cinema’s portrayal of violence in relationships has undergone a transformation over the decades. The release of Chand Mera Dil marks a new chapter to this conversation.

Directed by Vivek Soni and starring Ananya Panday and Lakshya, the film explores how unresolved childhood trauma and emotional neglect shape a young couple’s relationship. What begins as an intense college romance spirals into suffocation, resentment and eventually physical violence, raising difficult questions about the role of ego in relationships.

For decades, Hindi cinema often treated aggression in romance as an extension of masculinity. The angry hero grabbing the heroine by the wrist, shouting at her or slapping her was rarely framed as abuse. Instead, it was frequently packaged as authority, passion or emotional intensity. In many mainstream films from the 1970s to early 2000s, toxic behaviour existed without moral scrutiny. Male rage was romanticised, and women were expected to absorb emotional or physical hurt as part of love.

That said, Bollywood did occasionally confront domestic violence long before the current wave of socially aware relationship dramas. Agni Sakshi (1996), starring Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala and Jackie Shroff, explored the terror of an abusive marriage through the lens of a psychological thriller. Nana Patekar’s possessive and violent husband became one of the most disturbing depictions of marital abuse in mainstream Hindi cinema.

Years later, Provoked (2006), based on the real-life story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, explored the issue with far greater realism. Starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the film chronicled the trauma of prolonged abuse and the devastating psychological consequences of silence within marriage.

A major turning point in contemporary discourse came with Kabir Singh (2019). Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Shahid Kapoor, the film became one of Bollywood’s biggest commercial successes, but also one of its most divisive. Critics argued that the film glorified emotional manipulation, possessiveness and aggression in relationships. Supporters defended it as the portrayal of a flawed character.

Soon after came Thappad (2020), directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film fundamentally altered the conversation by focussing on “just one slap.” Taapsee Pannu played a woman who decides to leave her marriage after her husband hits her once at a party. The film challenged the deeply ingrained social conditioning that asks women to tolerate abuse for the sake of family stability. Rather than focusing on extreme violence, it exposed the everyday normalisation of disrespect within marriages.

Then came Darlings (2022), starring Alia Bhatt, which approached domestic violence through dark satire. The film portrayed a woman trapped in an abusive marriage who eventually turns the power dynamic around. Unlike older Bollywood narratives where women quietly endured suffering, Darlings featured women who confront violence, speak about trauma and refuse to be silent.

In that context, Chand Mera Dil feels like a continuation of Hindi cinema’s coming of age. Aarav and Chandni are academically gifted, ambitious and emotionally damaged young adults carrying the weight of parental dysfunction and social expectations. The film examines how unresolved trauma mutates inside relationships.

The violence in Chand Mera Dil is more of a result of insecurity and emotional decay. That distinction matters because contemporary Hindi cinema is increasingly less interested in celebrating the “angry man” archetype and more interested in dissecting what creates him.

And Aarav, unlike the “toxic masculine” heroes we see on the big screen so often, is not proud of the fact that he hit his wife. He is repentant and wants to make amends any which way he can.

There is also a generational shift visible in these stories. Earlier films often portrayed love as sacrifice at any cost. Today’s relationship dramas are asking whether love can survive without respect, emotional safety and accountability.