Ever since the release of Shahid Kapoor starrer ‘Kabir Singh’ on June 21, the film has been a talking point among all Bollywood cinema lovers. While some are calling it highly misogynistic and reeking of toxic masculinity, some are praising Shahid Kapoor and entitling it as the best performance of his career, calling it an entertaining film.
The male protagonist is a flawed character – an alcoholic and deeply affected by substance abuse. He has zero anger management skills and gets provoked easily even at the slightest inconvenience and ends up harming himself and his near and dear ones. The character of Kabir Singh is shown as a demi-god. A college topper, an amazing sportsperson, a fantastic surgeon and equally loved by all his teachers and friends out of sheer fear.
He was almost suspended from his college on grounds of indiscipline and violence yet, he stayed back due to his love at first sight with a college junior, Preeti Sikka aka Kiara Advani. Docile and demure as was the nature of Preeti, her wishes were hardly acknowledged or inquired upon by Kabir Singh. Her silence was assumed to be her consent.
His love and obsession for Preeti ventures so deep that he rides on a self-destruction journey. In his time of suffering, his brother and his best friend, Shiva, are two pillars of strength who supported him throughout. He falls so deep in his love for Preeti that he fails to acknowledge the love and emotion of other important members of his life. His friend goes to the extent of getting his own sister married to Kabir in spite of his unhealthy lifestyle, just to see him happy, settled and moving on from Preeti. Another character is Kabir’s brother, who also relentlessly tries to bring normalcy and peace into his brother’s life keeping his personal interest aside.
The movie is the glorification of an alpha male and his irrational aggression. Demanding sexual pleasure at knife-point? Claiming sole authority over Preeti as if she is his property? He lessons and directs her every move from dressing up to studies, thus exemplifying a protective and authoritarian boyfriend! This kind of possessive behaviour may not go well with this generation as they are raising independent girls and extreme possessiveness may backfire in a relationship.
Even though Kabir Singh is an extreme character and orthodox in his thoughts, I particularly like his direct approach. He loves a girl and wishes to get married to her. He politely tries to convince her parents about approving their relationship with full honesty and explains their love in a dignified manner. He is what he is, not trying to paint a false picture of himself in front of her parents right from the very first day he meets Preeti’s father in college.
I personally believe that is better to live in the real world rather than getting swayed by a lovey-dovey relationship that may not exist in real life. ‘Rahul‘ is a very popular character in Bollywood, popularised by the king of romance, Shah Rukh Khan. Generations of girls have gone crazy over his sweet and romantic portrayals. They are so romanticised by it that they try to find Rahul in their significant romantic partners. All hell breaks loose when reality clashes and breaks the beautiful castle they have built over the years.
Rahul is silently creating a divide in relationships, almost like reality versus expectations. Rahul’s passionate love, witty and romantic dialogues have been making women go weak on their knees since eternity, not only in movies but also in building unrealistic expectations of what a romantic relationship should be like.
I am not asking to love and immortalize the character of Kabir Singh. His abusive behaviour is condemnable. What I am saying is one should not take a movie character too seriously. Actors are just playing the role they are offered, movies should be seen just as a form of entertainment without getting too involved with the reel character.