Father’s Day 2017: 5 Bad Bollywood Dads That Messed Up Their Kids

Alok Nath in 'Agneepath' (1990)

You must be wondering how the guy who's portrayed the most traditional, conservative and family loving characters in almost his entire career within Bollywood, could be on this list. Well I'm not referring to the Alok Nath in every Sooraj Barjatya movie. I'm talking about the Alok Nath who's hyper morality basically broke his own son's moral compass, deeming him a bad Bollywood Dad.

In the original 'Agneepath', Nath played the role of a super ethical and idealistic school teacher in a small village. When corruption threatened to take over his home village, and when his morality was tested, Nath stood fast and stuck to his ideals. What resulted was the victory of evil over good, as his good name was tarnished in a frame job, his reputation ruined, and his eventual death. This left his impressionable son and family in ruins.

Eventually, his son (Amitabh Bachchan) grew up as, mostly due to circumstances, a sort of middle management gangster that commanded a lot of public respect. Now how in this scenario is Nath a bad Bollywood dad?

you tell me if this kid looks emotionally healthy...

Nath's incredibly unrealistic depiction of what it means to be good to his son, is essentially what breaks Bachchan's compass as he gets older. Usually when parents teach their children the concepts of  unyielding honesty and strong morals, they're typically around to also manage their children's psyche when those concepts are questioned or doubted by their kids. They are present to teach them the grey areas of life as well and the distinctions between those truths, over time.

The way that Nath attempted to pass his morality to his son, one who may not have had a good grasp, or even completely comprehended those ideals yet, was too much too soon. After his father's death, Bachchan's entire childhood and adolescence was spent experiencing complete contradictions to the ideas his father left behind. Without  realizing that those grey areas exist as much as good and evil do, Bachchan couldn't have had hope that good could still come out of bad. This confrontation of ideals within himself is essentially what causes Bachchan to abandon the lofty ideals of his father, and face the harsh practicalities of life.

While Nath may not have been a bad father intentionally, he definitely left behind teachings and morals to his child that are realistically impossible to live upto. It's this impracticality and the way that he stacked his own sons's conscience that makes Nath be a bad Bollywood dad.

Let us know what you thought of this list. Disagree with any of the entires? Or do you feel we left out any other bad Bollywood dads? Let us know in the comments below.