Shahid: Kabir Singh's violent streak was not towards a particular sex

Shahid Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor as Kabir Singh was hailed by many as one of his most stellar performances. The actor portrayed a brilliant medical student who turns to a self-destructive path and becomes an alcoholic after the love of his life is forced to marry someone else. Kabir Singh received mixed reviews, with many suggesting that the character was misogynistic. The actor opened up about the film and his character in a recent candid interview.

In a candid chat with Bollywood Hungama, Shahid Kapoor said, "You can't take a simplistic view of a very complex character like Kabir. There are many layers to him. Some layers are deplorable and terrible. And some layers are actually beautiful. The layer of unconditional love, of love in which you are ready to destroy yourself was actually a very beautiful layer. The layer of violence and I never saw this as misogyny - because Kabir Singh's violent streak was not towards any particular sex. His aggression was inherent in his personality, it was not gender-related."

Also read: Shahid Kapoor increases his fee to Rs 35 crore after Kabir Singh's success?

The Padmaavat actor further stated that he thought the criticism that the film received was rather misplaced. He spoke about Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju, and how no one picked on it the way they did Kabir Singh. He said, "There have been films in the recent past which had characters exhibiting similar traits but no one really picked on them this way. To be candid, Sanju had a scene where the guy is sitting in front of his wife and saying he has slept with over 300 women. No one picked on it the way they went after Kabir Singh." He, however, added that he enjoyed watching Sanju thoroughly because he was watching it see how the character's life is.

Shahid Kapoor also spoke about Kabir Singh's misogynistic traits, where he is seen being violent with Preeti (Kiara Advani) in the film. He said, "If Kabir hadn't slapped Preeti (Kiara's character), would everything else that he did be okay? Because he slapped the girl, you feel that is unacceptable and that Kabir Singh is an unacceptable character. We want you to feel this is unacceptable, his behaviour has gone beyond control."

In the chat with the entertainment portal, Shahid reiterated that Kabir Singh's aggression was not directed particularly towards women. "He had a problem with his father, his brother, he abuses everyone. He has a problem with his friends, his principal…just everyone," said the actor.

Kabir Singh had crossed an awe-inspiring milestone in the first seven days itself with earning Rs 134.42 crore. While many films generally lose their hold at the box office in the second week, Kabir Singh held its own with bringing the collection of Rs 78.78 crore to the makers, making it a total of Rs 213.2 crore.

Also read: Shahid Kapoor opens up on Kabir Singh's success; calls the audience 'mature'

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