While the hunks of the Hindi film industry have always basked in pan-India adulation and traditionally commanded higher fees than their counterparts in regional cinema, it is the men from Kerala who wear their masculinity with an ease unknown to the boys of Mumbai.

A new jewellery ad that features veteran actor Mohanlal has come up for discussion for breaking the gender mould. It is cheeky and bold, the actor who’s been the epitome of masculinity for decades unafraid to explore what’s been largely perceived as a feminine desire. The storyboard is simple. During shooting, glittering diamond jewellery — a chunky neckpiece, a ring on the finger, a bracelet around the wrist — goes missing. In the makeup van, Mohanlal, wearing a shirtless black jacket, looks at himself in the mirror with the missing jewellery on him. He even tries out a hand mudra or two with matching eye movement, and chuckles delightedly when the director catches him. No dialogues; only a catchline that reads, Aarum kothichupokum (anybody would be tempted by it or would desire it).

If the aim of an ad is to catch attention, Mohanlal (and director Prakash Varma) sure got it right.

A state wrestling champion, Mohanlal is Kerala’s poster boy of masculinity. He’d once told me in a matter-of-fact manner, and not flirtatiously, that he found every woman attractive. Hindi film buffs will know him as the actor from Drishyam, the Malayalam original. The third installment of Drishyam will be filmed from October onwards, simultaneously in Malayalam with Mohanlal and in Hindi with Ajay Devgn.

Back to the jewellery ad. The effortless smashing of a stereotype by Mohanlal is unmatched by the macho men of Hindi cinema. Another example is Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran (the baddie of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and the tough brigadier married to Kajol in Sarzameen), who played a cop in Mumbai Police. The twist in it was that Prithvi himself was the murderer in a case he was investigating. He’d killed his colleague to keep his homosexuality a secret — it would’ve come in the way of his promotion. When the same was remade in Hindi as Deva (2024), homosexuality was replaced with Shahid Kapoor wanting to keep his corruption a secret. Corruption in the police department is hardly a surprise and turning it into the best-kept secret that no colleague got even a whiff of was inconceivable. Prithvi’s original with the gay secret was a hit; Shahid’s Deva flopped. Even if the Hindi film hero didn’t want to play a gay character, it’s curious that a seasoned producer like Siddharth Roy Kapur indulged him by letting the twist in the narrative turn tame and lame.

When Allu Arjun wore a sari in Pushpa 2, he didn’t lose even an ounce of his screen virility. He wore a sari and fought “like a man”. There’s a fearlessness with which these actors wear jewellery, play a gay character or drape a sari, confident that their manhood isn’t going to come under the scanner.

Is there a Hindi mainstream hero who can pull it off? Perhaps Hrithik Roshan would have the guts. After watching Pushpa 2, he had got Allu Arjun’s number and complimented him. Would he have worn a sari like AA did? “I would love to do something like Pushpa,” Hrithik had once said during an off-the-cuff chat. “And yes, I would wear a sari if the director had the conviction.”

At the moment, there is only a super cape waiting for him as Hrithik prepares to direct, for the first time, the fourth installment of the Krrish franchise. With the script locked under dad Rakesh Roshan’s supervision, and Aditya Chopra taking care of production and global marketing woes, Hrithik has the rare benefit of two filmmaking brains watching out for him.

Now that Saiyaara and War 2 are out of his hands, Adi’s entire focus is on Krrish 4. Await a casting coup soon.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author