Dhurandhar, Kabir Singh, Animal: Does Hypermasculinity Really Sell in Bollywood?

Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar has become his third-highest grossing film so far, having already crossed the Rs 200 crore mark within a week of release. This fact raises the question whether hypermasculinity is really the Indian audience’s preference or just the latest trend of Bollywood along with Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal.

The Rise of the Hypermasculine Hero

Over the years, Bollywood has honored the larger-than-life heroes, but the new trend of hypermasculinity has taken this to a new level. The spectators are now accepting through the characters of Shahid Kapoor’s fiery, emotionally unstable Kabir Singh (2019), Ranbir Kapoor’s obsessive and brutal Rannvijay in Animal (2023) and now, the ruthless RAW operative of Ranveer Singh in Dhurandhar (2025), men who are violent, imperfect, and larger than life.

These types of films rule the box office, make their debates, and split viewers but one thing is for sure that their commercial success is indisputable.

Breaking Down the Blockbusters

Kabir Singh (2019)

Although it was heavily criticized for its portrayal of toxicity and misogyny, Kabir Singh still managed to make over Rs 380 crores globally in total. The movie indicated that the audience is attracted to such easily identifiable souls with their ups and downs, and that controversy might just be the secret ingredient to box office success.

Animal (2023)

Ranbir Kapoor encountered with a hypermasculine character named Rannvijay who was no less but a self-destructive serial killer. The movie earned almost Rs 915 crore around the globe and demonstrated that the audience is willing to accept difficult and complex male leads who are absolutely unrestrained in their expression of feelings.

Dhurandhar (2025)

With Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, we get an unrelenting combination of patriotism, trauma, and vengeance in a hypermasculine style. The film has already made Rs 218 crore and is likely to be Singh’s highest-grossing picture, even though it was banned in six Gulf nations.

Why Hypermasculinity Works Today

The factors contributing to the trend are:

Socio-political climate: Audiences root for men who, in a world of chaos, are regaining, through strength and control, power, thus providing them with the escape that they desire.

Global OTT influence: Viewers are now more receptive and accustomed to morally ambiguous, flawed men in the lead roles thanks to shows like Vikings and Peaky Blinders.

Emotional realism: Heroes of the present day are not all-powerful, they are human and their wounds, traumas, and so forth make them relatable thus their aggression is comprehensible.

Theatrical appeal: Hypermasculine characters are best suited for the high-powered, mass-cinema type of experience which the audiences are now trying to satiate post-pandemic.

Is This Sustainable?

The cycle of hype and then down is the nature of Bollywood, and hypermasculinity is lucratively in vogue now. Also, for every violent blockbuster, there is a feel-good hit like 3 Idiots or a musical romance. Audience fatigue can indeed be felt—after the intensity of Animal, some viewers even said they were worn out.

The main message is: emotion is the real selling factor, not just aggression. Kabir Singh was a success due to its heartbreaking rawness and passion, Animal based on family drama was a hit, and Dhurandhar wins viewers via patriotism and amazing car chases. Hypermasculinity is just the cinematic tool to facilitate these stories.

Conclusion

Now hypermasculine heroes are the main characters in Bollywood but their charm is in the power of complexity, emotion and spectacle, not their brutality. Audiences feel attracted to imperfect but three-dimensional characters and as long as filmmakers manage to match emotion with larger-than-life heroics, this trend will go on—at least for the time being.