Raksha Bandhan Trailer: Enforces harmful gender stereotypes under the garb of progressiveness

The trailer of Akshay Kumar , Bhumi Pednekar starrer Raksha Bandhan opens with the quote - ‘Sometimes being a brother is better than being a superhero’ which sets the tone exactly for what’s about to come - a sexist and problematic glorification of male siblings whose sole aim in life, as the writers of the film would like us to believe, is to get their sisters married else they would have failed as brothers.

The trailer shows Bhumi, who plays Akshay Kumar’s love interest in the film, expressing her desire to marry him. But Akshay’s character, being the aadarsh bhai that he is, wouldn’t do so until he gets his sisters married. That is when the camera cuts to his sisters who are shown fighting each other, almost like Neanderthals - for the last bite of samosa. The scene is played for laughs and the joke is at the expense of the young sisters who are apparently gaining weight.

In times as progressive as the one we are living in, there is much chatter on social media on body positivity and self-love. Despite the public discourse on body image issues and eating disorders, 89% women struggle with body dissatisfaction due to the social media comments. One would expect the writers of the film to use the medium of cinema and deliver a responsible message - one that would resonate with young women and make them feel less bad about themselves. Unfortunately, it seems the writers didn’t get the memo.

What follows next is a montage where we see the sisters devouring food and Akshay character throwing a bucket full of water at one of his sisters and forcing her to go for a run in the morning - all of this, again, is played for laughs. If the constant body shaming of the sisters doesn’t trigger you, the fatphobic jokes sure will. In another scene Akshay’s character takes his sisters to meet a woman, who seems like the head of a marriage bureau (played by Seema Pahwa). The sisters can’t help but eat food kept in the trays placed on the table. That is when Seema Pahwa points at the food and says ‘kutte ke hain’ (that’s dog food).

To sum it up, Akshay’s sisters are shown as young women (presumably in their 20s) who have no ambitions apart from hogging food, even dog food - only to become a burden but their brother who cannot marry the love of his life because his sisters aren’t getting married. The irony is that somehow, the writers manage to make Akshay, who constantly body shames his sisters because he is unable to marry them off, as the victim.

What’s particularly infuriating is that a film called Raksha Bandhan has such limited insight into sibling relationships. We don’t see the brother and his sisters argue or engage in fun banter. The constant body shaming and the need to find suitors for sisters is the center of their relationship. That’s not all - the film also pokes fun at TikTok stars and social media influencers. In one scene, Akshay’s character asks his sister to marry a man with coloured hair and a mohawk look - who his sister says is a kabadiwaala and hence, she cannot marry him. The trailer managed to offend not just anyone who happens to be a brother or a sister - but even the TikTok stars and garbage collectors.

In another scene, Akshay’s character says something to the effect of - “in every house there’s a daughter, whose father and brothers are running from pillar to post, only to pay for her dowry.” The statement in mind-numbingly problematic and gaslights the viewer into thinking that the father and the brothers of the woman who is getting married in exchange for dowry are somehow the primary victims - not the woman.

The trailer ends with one of Akshay’s sisters who, on her wedding day, asks him how he’ll manage to get the other sisters married to which he replies, ‘Dono kidney bech dunga (I’ll sell both my kidneys)’. If normalizing fatphobia wasn’t enough, the film also glorifies patriarchal and frankly, problematic practice of brothers being responsible to get their sisters married. In a patriarchal society that expects men to provide for women and brothers to protect their sisters and look out for them financially - the practice is harmful and detrimental to both the male and the female siblings. It puts undue pressure on brothers to stay single till their sisters get married. It also pressurizes sisters, who might not be psychologically prepared to have a life partner, to get married in haste for the sake of their brother. It is a classic lose-lose situation.

Watch the trailer here:

The casting, too, seems inappropriate. Akshay Kumar doesn’t look half as convincing as the brother of young women in their 20s. In one of the scenes, when Akshay gives a group hug to his sisters - it seems like a father showing affection towards his daughters. The stark age difference between Akshay and Bhumi is particularly jarring and doesn’t help the cause.

Raksha Bandhan is yet to be released - but it is apparent from the trailer that the film is bound to irk some viewers. One can hope that the film isn’t as problematic as it seems - but that is just wishful thinking.

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