Kabir Singh, a movie on passionate love which touches obsession, written and directed by Sandeep Vanga is a 2019 romantic drama film. It’s a remake of Telugu film named ‘Arjun Reddy’, released on 2017 directed by Sandeep Vanga himself. Kabir Singh was jointly produced by Cine1 Studios and T-Series.
Starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani. Shahid Kapoor aka Kabir plays the main role, a surgeon with anger management issues who went through self-destruction when the love of his life Preeti, a role played by Kiara Advani, marries someone else.
The film was released on 21 June 2019 and it got an ‘A’ (adults only) certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the character is seen snorting drugs and consuming alcohol in the movie. The movie was made with a budget of 60 crores and the box office collection was 379 crore.
The film got mixed reviews, where Shahid’s performance was praised, the film was criticized for its toxic masculinity.
Development of the Movie
After the success of writer-director Sandeep Vanga's ‘Arjun Reddy’ (2017), he wanted to remake it in Hindi. However, Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde, producers of Cine1 Studios already acquired the Hindi remake rights for the film. They wanted to cast Arjun Kapoor in the movie.
In April 2018, however, it was officially announced that Shahid Kapoor would star in the Hindi remake of Arjun Reddy directed by Sandeep Vanga.
Vanga was confident that the remake would get more love and appreciation than the original one, he said, “when I made Arjun Reddy, I wasn’t sure where to draw the lines in terms of representation of certain things. I don’t think I’d have to restrict myself when it comes to the Hindi version.”
Casting
The fun part is, that Shahid, was not the first choice of Sandeep Vanga, instead, it was Ranveer Singh but eventually, it didn’t work out and he then approached Shahid Kapoor and finally he locked the role. Although Kiara Advani was Vanga’s first choice for Preeti, the female lead character.
According to Vanga, ‘’Kiara epitomises the female character in the film to a T. she has the perfect combination of innocence (in terms of looks) and maturity (in terms of performance) that’s so important for the character.”
Filming
On 21 October 2018, principal photography eventually started, however, the makers wanted to shoot in August but got delayed as Vanga wanted Shahid to grow his beard more for the role. Mumbai was the central location for shooting and it also took place in Delhi and Mussorie.
For the movie, Shahid had to portray Kabir in two time periods “college boy” and “puffy, groggy, alcoholic guy”. For college look, he shed 14 kilos of weight and for the latter role he worked out in such a way that he would look bigger but not muscular. Principal photography wrapped on 29th March 2019.
Soundtrack
The songs played a big role in making Kabir Singh a big hit. The soundtrack is composed of great music composers such as Mithoon, Amaal Malik, Vishal Mishra, Sachet-Parampara, and Akhil Sachdeva. The lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil and Mithoon.
The song “Bekhayali” became a chartbuster even before its release and now streaming with over 100 million views on YouTube. All the songs of the movie were a big hit and remained in the heart and mind of the people for a very long time.
Review
The release of Kabir Singh resulted in a huge uproar by feminists about the toxic masculinity in the film, about how women are objectified and mistreated in the film.
Moreover, the one statement by the director of the movie Sandeep Vanga, ” If you don’t have the liberty of slapping each other, then I don’t see the love there”, worked as adding the fuel to the fire, this statement kind of boosted up the anger of the feminists and they started questioning about the mindset of the people who made and supported this film.
Many people believed it’s a largely problematic movie which is an ode to misogyny and toxic masculinity but I think that it is a film and should be treated like one- not taken personally, it must remain something that you only watch and enjoy.
I also strongly oppose any such thing that happened in the movie to happen in the real-life, but again a movie is a movie and should be treated like one.
Kabir undoubtedly is a problematic character with his anger issues, obsessive streak and an abusive nature but his unredeemable flaws make him extremely intriguing and therefore fascinating. He went on a ride of self-destruction because he can’t have what his heart desires.
Shahid’s transformation into Kabir, especially when he degenerates into an alcoholic, groggy guy is mind-blowingly impressive. In his turn as the mad and absurd obsessive lover, Shahid reminds us of what an excellent actor he turned out to be.
Kabir Singh happens to be that unusual or rare love story which leaves you moved notwithstanding the foreseeable story, climax and the ending. Kabir Singh is about reckless or rash love. The experience of seeing the movie is the same. According to me, Shahid Kapoor shines with his career’s best performance.
Preeti aka Kiara was the sunshine of the film, her innocence and silence just took my heart. Sandeep Vanga as the director did an amazing job and stood up to all expectations. However, from storytelling to casting to the direction to the songs every bit of movie is worth your time and money and is a must-watch.
Written by – Harshita Negi
Edited by - Ivanova
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