5 drool-worthy male feminists in Bollywood

Feminism can be an utterly confusing word for some people, considering that there are so many myths attached to it. People confuse feminists with men-haters, who detest "girly" things like dresses and heels, look down on stay-at-home moms, and want to take all the world's power out of men's hands. Obviously, none of the above is true.

However, even the public figures we look up to tend to get it wrong most of the times. One would at least expect Bollywood actresses to know what feminism means and take a stand. But from Alia Bhatt to Parineeti Chopra-none of the rising starlets, or their veteran counterparts, seem to understand what feminism entails.  

Surprisingly and thankfully, there are a few male actors in the industry, who not only know the importance of feminism, but are also doing their bit to support the cause. And we can't help but drool over them:

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh, who is known to be a lady charmer on screen, is a true feminist off screen. "I'd like to be a woman. Physically, I'm not. Mentally and emotionally, I'd like to be one. Sometimes, there is a part in me that when I see feminists becoming aggressive, I want to step up in their support," he said in an interview to Femina.

Also, Baadshah Khan doesn't think twice about putting the female lead's name in the credit rolls of his movies before his own. In fact, in spite of being such a huge movie star himself, he has spoken about the gender pay gap in the industry openly. "She (Suhana) can be an actor if she has the passion and guts to work five times harder than me and get paid 10 times less than I do, if times don't change for women actors", he said.

Talking about the importance of teaching children the principle of equality since the very beginning, SRK told the magazine: "I'm bringing up my sons to treat all as equals; as boys, they will have no extra privileges over girls."

In fact, the mega movie star simply refuses to work in films where women are disrespected even one bit. "I have lost out on a lot of edgy cinema because I refuse to work in films where women are not respected. Adi (director Aditya Chopra) and I always have fights over dialogue where I'm supposed to say to my mother in Punjabi, 'Tu kya kar rahi hai.' How can I address my screen mother with 'tu'-but they forced me to in Jab Tak Hai Jaan," he said.

Farhan Akhtar

If there's one man in Bollywood who can be tagged as a true-blue feminist, it is Farhan Akhtar, hands down. After all, who can forget his 2013 campaign--MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination)? And his song, chu lein aasman, which sent out a strong message of gender equality.  

Talking of this, Farhan was quotes as saying, ""I truly believe that men have as important a role in the quest for a world without gender violence and discrimination as women do. It is our problem too. Not because we have mothers, sisters, wives and daughters, that still makes it about us."

In fact, this multi-talented hottie also became the first South-Asian man to be appointed as a goodwill ambassador for women in 2015 by the United Nations, thanks to his strong stance on equal rights for women.

Akshay Kumar

It seems like Akshay's strong-headed wife, Twinkle Khanna has had a prolific impact on him. The actor, who is known to be quite diplomatic in life, openly slammed the Bangalore molestation incident in a video that he uploaded on his social media account. Akshay's evident  displeasure at such inhuman behaviour in the video inspired many youngsters to stand up for the cause.

In fact, Akshay is also producing and acting in his recently-launched venture, Padman, which talks about the sensitive issue of menstruation.
 
Aamir Khan

Unlike his contemporaries, Aamir Khan's stint on television was not that of an entertaining reality show host. The man made an exceptional difference to the society with his T.V. show, Satyamev Jayate, in which he talked about issues like atrocities against women, sex-selective abortion, and the growing insensitivity among people at large.

In fact, in his recent project, Dangal, he let the girls take the centre stage and supported them thoroughly-- both on and off screen.  

Siddharth Narayan

It is not very often that we see a Bollywood actor questioning a very popular co-actor openly for being sexist in life. Sidhharth did just that when he lent his support against blatant sexism on social media by criticising a Jack & Jones advertisement starring Ranveer Singh.

A new low for women's rights in the workplace in India. What were they thinking? #Fail pic.twitter.com/3PW5mMaKOt

- Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) November 20, 2016

In fact, he even expressed his displeasure at the recent cases of molestation in Bengaluru as he called it an unjustified crime and urged the youth to act and change the scenario.

Nothing justifies molestation, abuse and rape. Nothing! No exceptions.Anyone who forgets this needs to be corrected. Speak out. Act. Change.

- Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) January 6, 2017