While we are now seeing alpha-male driven movies like ‘Kabir Singh’ and ‘Animal’ doing exceptionally well at the box office, one recalls the men portrayed by Sooraj Barjatya in his movies. His hero, mostly called Prem as seen in movies like Vivaah and Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hai, continue to remain iconic. In a recent interview, Barjatya has opened up on these new trend of male characters which are starkly different from Prem. The filmmaker admits that he is often criticised for presenting an unrealistic version of romance, as he spoke about his upcoming show, ‘Sangamarmar’, “Every two to three weeks, people tell me such a world does not exist. Don’t give us this wrong hope. Girls tell me that their parents want this sort of guy for them, and yeh banne band ho gaye hain (These don’t exist anymore). But I say jitne pehle the aaj bhi hain (they exist today too). You just have to find them.”Across his films, Barjatya’s heroes have consistently favoured tenderness over traditional masculinity. Barjatya, however, rejects the idea of choosing one over the other.“They are representations of the same men,” he said, adding, “Itna pyaar to kare koi (Someone must love this passionately). If you look at it, whether it is Kabir Singh, Animal, Prem, or the protagonist from Sangamarmar, but itna pyaar to kare.”Expanding on this thought, Barjatya explained, “All of them have come through the journeys of their soul. They have their own upbringing and values. But essentially, it is the power of love. I feel they are two sides of the same coin.”
