Salman Khan's Tears to Samay Raina's Advice: Are Indian Men Finally Learning to Love their Fathers Out Loud?

Verbalising love as much as you feel it is the very essence of relationships. It may just be so that Indian men are finally understanding the brief, especially when it comes to their fathers.

The mounting list of complaints against men in today's day and age is quite the dismal debate, and not without reason. But that doesn't mean the tides have completely stopped changing for the between.

For generations, Indian men have been taught that love does not always need to be spoken - at best, it is demonstrated through sacrifices, financial responsibilities and a sense of provider-ship. Children of such father figures, sons in particular, often grow up inheriting the same emotional restraint. What this inadvertently does, is delay the massive realisation of how much their fathers meant to them. But, things could be changing for the better on this front.

During a recent weekend episode of Bigg Boss 20, Salman Khan offered a rather poignant glimpse into this conversation. In a special guest appearance, singer Mohit Chauhan spoke about being an admirer of Salman's father, Salim Khan, before singing Mujhe Tumse Mohabbat Hai, Magar Main Keh Nahi Sakta from the 1963 film Bachpan, which featured the veteran screenwriter. The moment was soulful but what truly caught everyone's attention was Salman becoming visibly emotional, struggling to hold back his tears, in a beautiful display of the often-unspoken tenderness of a father-son relationship.

And the thing is, this is hardly an moment that's made it our feeds. Comedian Samay Raina, through his stand-up special Still Alive, has also addressed the awkwardness many Indian men experience when expressing affection towards their fathers. Based off his own experience, he asked people to tell their fathers they love them, even if it means having to coax those words out of men who maybe have treated the very concept of verbalising their emotions as a non-option for themselves.

Zakir Khan's Papa Yaar also elicits a similar reaction, wherein through humour, he establishes the beauty and overwhelm of seeing one's father as a person with dream, fears and vulnerabilities - and not just an authority figure.

If this a man reading, and you are yet to find yourself experience something of the sort, know that the wave isn't merely anecdotal. A 2026 Harvard Kennedy School policy study, Rethinking Masculinity Norms in India, surveyed 1,254 men aged 18 to 30. It found that 68% agreed that showing vulnerability and letting go of the pressure to be perfect could improve their relationships. Meanwhile, 83% agreed with the statement: "Men don't feel pain? Wrong. Men don't SHOW pain because they know the whole house rests on their shoulders" - which is precisely the contradiction we believe these instances highlight.

Of course watching men, excelling in their respective fields, find the grace and energy to voice and exhibit their emotional sides without seeing it as a chink in their armours isn't quite the same equation or response we can expect out of, say the average Indian male. But that's exactly why such moments deserve the kind of attention they get. They are not necessarily proof that an entire generation has transformed overnight - they do however suggest that the definition of masculinity is maybe the most open to varied interpretations, now more than ever. To put it more plainly, being a man is increasingly being separated from the expectation of being emotionally invulnerable and the biggest marker of that often means taking the first step.

Long story short: it's never to late to learn how to hug for no reason, call, check in, apologise, and express your love, the way your father may never have experienced in his lifetime.