India, June 9 -- There was a time when we watched commercial cinema without overthinking it. The loud hero entries, gravity-defying action scenes, punch dialogues and chartbuster songs were enough. Like millions of Indian moviegoers, we grew up believing that mass entertainers existed purely for escapism. Logic was optional. Larger-than-life masculinity was part of the package.

But somewhere along the way, something began to feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Maybe it was the way female characters slowly started disappearing into the background of "hero elevation" scenes. Maybe it was the way camera angles lingered on women's bodies while male characters delivered emotional monologues. Or perhaps it was the growing normalisation of aggres...