What to make of KABIR SINGH

KABIR SINGH - UNDERSTANDING THE CONTROVERSY

It's not very often I walk out of a film confused about my views regarding that film. However, Kabir Singh is one of those movies. I walked out of the cinema hall conflicted. I really enjoyed certain parts but there was an underlying message that was too prevalent to ignore and left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the same director who directed the Telegu version of this film, Arjun Reddy, aims to portray medical college life in Delhi for what it is. It is a no holds barred glorification of its hero, Shahid Kapoor, no matter what he does. The movie on the whole is a good viewing experience that has been shot at a number of different locations. However, at the beginning of the movie, the scene changes appeared to be extremely abrupt and clunky, a view that was held by all my friends who I discussed the movie with. The music of this film was  spectacular. Not only were the lyrics apt and the tunes catchy, they were inserted at the correct times and music was used to enhance the storyline and improve the viewing experience, not just randomly thrown in.

Shahid Kapoor was in fantastic form and gave one of the best performances of the year. There were very few scenes where he did not feature and he took full advantage of his screen time. He came across so convincing as a man addicted to narcotics and alcohol, that you would find it impossible to believe that he's never had alcohol in real life. He showed brute force, rawness and aggression when he needed to but also followed that up with subtlety and slight softness in the scenes involving his love life. Kiara Advani, as Preeti, the girl who is his love interest in the film, didn't have a lot to do in the film. Her role was extremely restricted and in fact she is off screen for almost the entire second half. However, for the moments she is on screen, she manages to bring a layer of softness and vulnerability to the character that creates a lovely contrast with Kabir Singh.

However, as much as the acting and music were great, what cannot be ignored is the overtly misogynistic tone of the film. It glorifies its hero to extreme levels and in doing so it subverses the female characters of the movie. The love story of the movie, which at its heart in enjoyable and gets you emotionally invested, is ground in a pool of misogyny. In one of the earlier scenes of the film, Kabir goes to a classroom of first years and tells that this new girl, who he has never spoken to, is his girl and anyone that gets close to her will get beaten up. He also decides who Preeti is going to be friends with and constantly takes her out of class. Things like this, along with scenes of him slapping her for no reason, send out the wrong messages to an audience that is influenced very heavily by what it sees on screen.  

As good as the acting and the love story were, certain things cannot be ignored. While I understand that the primary role of movies is entertainment, the actors and directors do know they play a role in how people in the country act and thus I feel they should be more mindful of the content that is being put out there.