Well, who should watch Kabir Singh can be a matter of debate and discussion, but after this movie, one can be sure of who should NOT WATCH Kabir Singh at all. Anyone who believes in the Swara Bhaskar brand of feminism should not even try, for ‘Kabir Singh’, armed allegedly with ‘toxic masculinity’, is bound to scare them much more than what ‘The Conjuring’ would have done.
The Plot –
Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, ‘Kabir Singh’ is the Hindi adaptation of his own Telugu creation, and a sleeper hit of 2017, ‘Arjun Reddy’. Starring Shahid Kapoor in the titular role, with Kiara Advani, Soham Majumdar, Arjan Bajwa, Suresh Oberoi, Kamini Kaushal, etc., essaying supporting roles in the same. The story is about an academically brilliant but self-destructive orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kabir Singh, whose life goes on a downward spiral when his girlfriend, Preeti Sikka [Kiara Advani] is forcefully married to a man of her parent’s choice.
What’s Good? –
Before going ahead with this review, let us point it out straight and simple: Kabir Singh is not for the faint-hearted. This is not like those Bollywood movies, where they preach something else and practice things entirely opposite. Our lead character is no hypocrite, he has a ‘devil may care’ attitude, and sometimes goes too far in proving this. This attitude can trouble many and has certainly put the left-liberal ‘woke feminists’ into a frenzy, who are now after the director of the film, which shall be discussed in detail later.
After days comes a movie in Hindi film industry, where the entire soundtrack is not only original but also simply beautiful. Like the predecessor ‘Arjun Reddy’, ‘Kabir Singh’ has a brilliant soundtrack and background music. In terms of acting, the principal cast of ‘Kabir Singh’ has nailed it.
It goes without saying that after ‘Kaminey’ and ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Kabir Singh’ will be another testament to Shahid Kapoor’s brilliance as an actor. There is a famous phrase in Sanskrit, ‘Ati Sarvatra Varjyatey’, i.e. excess of anything is bad. The stubborn attitude and the anger management issues that lead to the massive downfall of Kabir Singh tries to do justice to the charisma of what Vijay Sai Deverekonda portrayed in ‘Arjun Reddy’. The campus culture in various Delhi colleges is also accurately portrayed without any fanfare in this movie.
Being a remake of ‘Arjun Reddy’, the comparison between the two actors is inevitable. However, through ‘Kabir Singh’, Shahid has tried to do justice with the original. Soham Majumdar as Kabir’s best buddy Shiva, Arjan Bajwa as Kabir’s elder brother Karan and Suresh Oberoi as Kabir and Karan’s father have also done justice to their respective roles. Even Kamini Kaushal has an interesting role in the movie, which though short, is quite intriguing.
What’s Bad? –
However, there are some flaws in ‘Kabir Singh’, which cannot be ignored at any instance. While Kabir Singh is, without doubt, an interesting case study in human frailties, the way Kiara Advani has portrayed the role of Preeti is certainly not overwhelming. She looks rather frail and submissive in front of Kabir Singh’s character, in complete contrast to what Shalini Pandey portrayed in the original. Nikita Dutta’s small role also seems wasted in front of the character of Kabir Singh. Also, the movie duration could test the patience of some people.
What Shall Trigger? –
Kabir Singh’s personality is certainly not an ideal role model for any man. But the way some of the left liberals, especially the ‘woke feminist’ brigade has been reacting to this movie, apart from openly heckling the director online, it seems that this movie has done well in exposing their double standards.
These are the same pseudo-feminists, who would whistle on movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Jab We Met, even when they advocate misogyny subtly. These are the same pseudo-feminists who would deliberately ignore the slaps of the heroine in the movie ‘Kabir Singh’ but would go aghast on the slaps of the protagonist.
Also, a humble request to the censor board: If the film is only for adults, and they’re enough mature to differentiate between the right and the wrong, what is the need to beep the cuss words? Isn’t this promoting double standards?
Overall, Kabir Singh is one such movie, which portrays the frailties of human nature and the downfall of a heartbroken individual in the most ruthless and unapologetic manner. It is not flawless for sure, but it is certainly not the trash the pseudo-feminists claim it to be. We’d go for 3/5 stars.
