Young girls may love his easy charm and that infectious smile and the box-office gods may have smiled down upon him. However, a section of the audience approaches Kartik Aaryan films with a hint of skepticism. Their bone of contention is that his movies — with the aggressive monologue vilifying women in Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011) or the now-edited joke about marital rape in Pati Patni Aur Woh — tend to have a misogynistic streak to them.

"I have done several women-centric films, be it Akaash Vani [2013], Kaanchi [2014] or Tanuja Chandra's short film Silvat [2016]. But all my work has been highlighted in films like Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety [2018], Pyaar Ka Punchnama and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 [2015]. So, people feel I am being troubled by someone or I am the troublemaker," begins Aaryan when we meet him at a suburban hotel.