Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Why middle-aged Indian women are hiring Rahul Roy for romance

Aashiqui’s Rahul Roy still belongs to Indian women. They will forget the world for his love.

The internet is worried about Rahul Roy. Is the popular actor from the 1990s being held hostage? Is his mind being controlled? What plausible explanation exists for him to dance in the lawns of a semi-urban Maharashtra bungalow-for-hire with a woman in a pink saree? Don’t be ridiculous, he couldn’t possibly have arrived at that decision on his own.

Over the past couple of weeks, Roy’s well-being has been questioned by people who likely haven’t thought about him in years. The comments under the reels – on the account of a hitherto unknown anchor and content creator, Dr Vanita Ghadage Desai – do most of the worrying for us. “Blink twice if you’re being held.” “Someone please confirm he’s alive.” and “Is this AI?” Roy’s face has been parsed frame by frame by a cottage industry of Instagram vigilantes under a video in which the 60-year-old Bollywood actor is, by and large, just holding someone’s hand.

This is not the first time the Bollywood actor has featured in the videos of mid-range creators and influencers cosplaying their Bollywood fantasies. In March, a creator named Seema Singh posted a video with a mildly nonplussed Roy, dancing to the smash hit Tu Meri Zindagi Hai from Aashiqui (1990), Roy’s most famous film. That video has 3.3 million views. Last November, Roy made a stage appearance at the wedding of the niece of a prominent Patna tutor named RK Srivastava. The video has 221K likes and thousands of comments. Two weeks ago, Delhi socialite and reality show actor Puja Dua posted a cryptic reel with Roy, liked by 98.8K people, suggesting that she was playing his onscreen wife.

Despite the handwringing over the last couple of weeks, Desai’s low-concept, high-budget reels themselves are oddly disarming. The wardrobe is virginal whites, blooming pinks, floral yellows, and soft lavenders that belong in a second-standard classroom. In one turbulently edited “best of” video, Desai studies a framed photograph of Roy, only to find him standing behind her, a bouquet in his hands. They walk through........

© ThePrint