Kathal actor Anantvijay Joshi: We should normalise letting go of toxic male masculinity, which oppresses women

While in most theatrical releases, the audience has seen the celebration of masculinity in Bollywood films, the latest web film Kathal, starring Sanya Malhotra alongside the young actor Anantvijay Joshi, shows how the stereotype of toxic masculinity can be broken to celebrate women's empowerment through cinema.

In the film, Anantvijay plays a police constable named Saurabh Dwivedi who is dating a police inspector named Mahima, who is obviously holding a senior position. However, throughout the film, it shows how Saurabh never hesitates to celebrate the success of his lover without bringing up his ego, knowing that she achieved more than him. In one scene particularly, Anant goofs up big time, and Sanya calls him out and scolds him, while Anantvijay respects his senior's words and owns up to his mistakes.

Sharing his thoughts on his on-screen character, Anantvijay said that the character of Saurabh was one of the men he personally resonated with.

"When the ladylove earns more or is in a higher position, the male ego definitely kicks in. But in Saurabh's case, he rejoiced when Mahima (Sanya's character) achieved something and maintained his position as a junior when she ordered him. I guess such roles need to be written and played to normalise letting go of toxic male masculinity, which oppresses women and their flight to success," said the actor.

The film is a satirical social drama, and the name Kathal, which means "jackfruit," and the police running after the missing fruit in themselves were enough for the audience to generate laughter from the time the trailer of the film was released.

Before the release of the film, when OTTplay asked Sanya about her reaction to the title of the film, Sanya said, "I think it's unique. The film is very unique. It's fun. You see in the trailer that it's intriguing. That's what I felt when I first heard a line or two. I kept on thinking about what would happen next."

This film was her second collaboration with Oscar-winning film producer Guneet Monga after their first outing with Pagglait.

"When I heard the narration, I was like, 'This is the kind of film I want to be a part of. I would want to watch a film like this on screen. In today's day and age, you just want to sit back and enjoy a film, laugh, and be happy. There's so much happening that a few films are being made like this that you can enjoy with your family," shared Sanya.

Ekta Kapoor and Guneet Monga produced the movie Kathal, which is currently available on Netflix.