India, March 2 -- It is the era of alpha males on screen, many Indian film viewers have noted. What began with Kabir Singh has only been emboldened of late by hypermasculine, aggressive men, even in love stories. This has led many with rose-tinted glasses to hark back to a time when romantic leads in Hindi films were sensitive, and the protagonists of Sooraj Barjatya films - from Vivaah to Hum Aapke Hain Koun - are among those cited as examples of 'ideal' men. But the filmmaker himself feels that his Prem (the name he used for all his protagonists) is not much different from Kabir Singh.

Barjatya recently saw the release of his new show, Sangamarmar, on JioHotstar. The romantic drama stars Sourabh Raaj Jain and Sheen Savita Das as a coup...