The ubiquity of Bollywood in every aspect of Indian culture has left the country devoid of conventional role models, apart from film celebrities and cricket superstars. Therefore, it is common for Indian men to idolize the male leads of Bollywood movies, many of whom condone a mindset of violence and glorify dominance.

As with many commercial film industries, Bollywood too establishes what is cool. Deepanjana Pal told BuzzFeed that Bollywood has chosen to market strong men who can dominate women as an ideal just as women who submit to men and find fulfillment in life when they are claimed by a man are the feminine role models.

Pal said, "The ideas propagated by films and their characters aren't counterbalanced by a celebrity with a contrarian view. For example, I suspect if you went out and asked people from different social sections to name an Indian feminist, they'd be hard-pressed to come up with an example. Mention actor, on the other hand, and an array of names and their roles pop up without any difficulty."