Why do we like Khilji more than Ratan? Blog#314

Why do we love Khilji more than Ratan?

I am a self-confessed film buff. Add to that the admiration for opulence and all things beautiful. How can I not then love the Sanjay Leela Bhansali genre of films! The excitement to watch the film, Padmavati is beyond words.

Now, coming to the title of this blog. My friends and I were having tea and most of them talked only about Sultan Alauddin Khilji and not about Maharawal Ratan Singh. I think it was my friend Abhishek who wondered why people tend to like only Khilji. It got me thinking too.

Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh are equally formidable stars. Both are equally well regarded actors. Their popularity among the people is more or less similar. There isn’t really a reason why people should prefer Khilji over Ratan.

I did a quick research on Social media. On Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, the followers for Shahid are more than that of Ranveer. In all the platforms, Shahid is ahead of Ranveer by a sizeable number. Inspite of this, the reactions on all platforms to Khilji is much more than that for Ratan. Please see the pictures below from different platforms.

Facebook: 

Twitter:

                  

Instagram:

                       

Most of the people I talked to were interested in knowing the history of Khilji. Many of us would have googled Alauddin Khilji. Did any one of you google Ratan Singh? Look at the below chart. Our interest in Ratna Singh’s history is minimal to the point of indifference.

This is not the first time. Remember Jim Sarbh’s character from Neerja? What was there in his character to be so loved? Is it that we are more forgiving if the person committing a cruelty is good looking? Are we unable to look beyond the depth of the skin?

Do we have an affinity towards bad over good? Do we find evil to be more appealing than the benign? Do we love villains more than we love heroes? If so, why do we do so? 

Have we started preferring the headiness of being bad over the gentleness of being good? Is there a tendency to worship brute force over the kindness of heart? We see a reflection of this in our day to day lives too. People who are forceful in their assertions are looked up on as strong leaders. Those who try to take an empathetic approach are looked down up on as weak and lacking in will.

Even in movies, the applause breaks out when the Hero seeks his revenge and not when he reins in his emotions. In sitcoms too, we have started worshiping characters that are mean and evil. Look at House of Cards, Suits and the likes.

     I do not have answers to the questions presented above. Do let me know if you have.

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