With an IMDb rating of 8.2, Kabir Singh has emerged as a blockbuster and with so many articles and videos coming up against the movie, I wonder if it’ll be the next topic for the descriptive paper of the UPSC exam.
Surely, by now, most people have seen the movie or heard about it, if not, then we all know the story of Arjun Reddy, and the trailer of its Hindi version was enough for us to understand what the movie’s story would be like. If you haven’t seen the trailer for either movie, with so many debates doing the rounds, by now you must have some idea what the movie is about.
I don’t intend to debate through this piece of writing, nor am I saying that someone else’s points are wrong. I am just giving my point of view, I know I wasn’t asked to; but thanks to freedom of speech, I have the right to express my opinion without hurting anyone.
Just Another Bollywood Love Story
In my opinion, ‘Kabir Singh’ is just like any other Bollywood love story – a boy sees a girl, he falls for her, they have their moments, they get separated due to family issues and eventually, there is a happy ending. What brings it into the limelight is the fact that the male lead is an arrogant character with anger issues who takes the path of drugs and becomes obsessed with sex after a breakup. The female lead is a quiet and submissive character. I think it’s based on the concept – good girls like bad boys.
According to me, the acting is ‘A’ class, the way they brought out the story on a reel is A-rated, and the songs are superb. So where does the problem lie? It’s in the lead male character’s role. People have pointed out so many faults – the male lead is misogynist, he doesn’t know love, he will affect us, we’ll become like him, he doesn’t let his girlfriend be herself – such patriarchy; much dislike.
Initially, when I chose to disagree with these views, I was called illogical. But, I want to say, I respect everyone’s opinions. We all have different views and respecting each other is important.
Here’s My Take On The Movie And Why I Don’t Think My Views Are Illogical
As I have already mentioned, I think it’s an A-rated movie with great acting and beautiful songs. This movie, yet again, brought the acting skills of Shahid Kapoor into the limelight. I don’t believe this movie has forced us to be like Kabir Singh. If someone does get influenced by the character and forgets the difference between reel life and real life, then that’s a problem; but we need to address that with those people directly.
I really don’t believe a movie can make you do things if your moral compass is strong. We are all adults and 12 years of school education couldn’t make us believe ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’. Not even the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan could make India 100% clean and you expect a movie to be so effective that all boys will run after drugs and all girls will become this submissive when they are in love? This makes me wonder whether we are humans with the ability for critical thinking and capacity to judge between right and wrong or are we gases that can take any shape and size?
Love and breakup can sometimes actually destroy a person. I have known people who didn’t have a smooth path after a breakup, but they are happy now, in love and more matured than before.
A few scenes in the movie were unacceptable, like telling another female character to undress at knifepoint. Also, the ending could have been better, but why are we analysing only the negative aspects? Why can’t we make ourselves understand that when life throws a breakup at us, we can choose to be like the male character of Shadi Me Zaroor Aana and not Kabir Singh?
Also, who said the lead actor must always be good, and the perfect Indian boy? Long gone are the days when we wanted to see perfect love stories. Sometimes, an imperfect character can also lead to a blockbuster.
Patriarchy and misogyny – these two words were present in every point made against the movie. Maybe these views are right, but as viewers, we often see movies made by real-life misogynists and still praise them, so why do we choose to raise a voice when a character is shown in that way?
I repeat – a character. No one asked you to be a ‘Preeti’; if you face such people in real life, deal with them in your own way. Should we allow characters to influence us so strongly? I don’t remember asking for dragons from anyone after watching GOT.
Anger issues have been portrayed in films like ‘Gully Boy’ too; not to the extent that has been portrayed in ‘Kabir Singh’, but yes it was shown in that movie too. I didn’t hear many voices coming out against it. Remember ‘Ranjhanaa’? This movie too won hearts, but where were the critiques at that time or were the actions of Sonam Kapoor’s character justified? Why that was just a movie and this is being treated like it’s poison?
There’s one more point that I need to clarify. People always question the male actors who say yes to such roles. If you consider all my arguments illogical and those that oppose me as logical; why not raise questions to the actresses who say yes to such films and songs that glorify patriarchy, misogyny, objectification of women and lead to unethical incidents in society?