The tipsy Kabir Singh threatens to become Shahid Kapoor’s biggest solo hit, is it really that good?? Let’s find out…

Kabir singh immediately hijacked the spotlight when writer-director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, announced the official remake of his hugely successful Telegu movie Arjun Reddy (2017) in Hindi starring Shahid Kapoor opposite Kiara Advani. Being an official remake of his own movie, the whole movie is practically a reshoot of the old one with a new title and fresh star cast. But Kabir Singh is more than an official remake, well at least for the greater masses of viewers who were unaware of the gem that Arjun Reddy was, until the Hindi remake was announced on April 2018. The plot wheels around the ‘pro-an-tagonist’, Kabir Rajdheer Singh (Shahid Kapoor), a brilliant surgeon and his journey of self-destruction and rebound after his girlfriend Preeti (Kiara Advani) is forced to marry someone else. The lack of imagination or creativity in the storyline, however is thoroughly compensated by the director’s vision of depiction which makes the movie a delight. But vision alone is not enough to recue Kabir Singh from some prospective blemishes its burdened with. So, these are what I liked and disliked about Kabir Singh.

The Good: Shahid Kapoor; is utterly impeccable as the fiery-flamboyant-foul mouthed and fiercely passionate house surgeon Kabir Singh, giving a career defining performance, which proves the man has enough mettle to lead any commercial venture, and is here to stay. A direct comparison is vital in this case, however with Vijay Deverakonda who has brilliantly portrayed Arjun Reddy and Shahid is no less lucid in playing this intense role. The supporting cast; in spite of Shahid’s relentlessly volatile recital, manage to hold their own with engaging performances from the leading lady Kiara Advani (preeti) and Soham Majumdar as Kabir’s only companion through every thick and thin. The music; has aided the narrative in all possible ways, with soulful tracks from Sachet-Parampara (Bekhayali) along with Mithoon and Amaal Malik. The narrative; plays its own magic in the movie as the director’s illustration of this suicidal love story, the viewers remain anchored to their seats abridged with Kabir and his vulnerable state. The viewers are repeatedly confronted with waves of emotions, be it anger, hatred, passion or love, which makes the unusually long running of 2hrs 55mins pretty bearable.

The Bad: Surely, there are two schools of response to the movie, first one praising it as an intense-passionate love story, and another one that will condemn it to be over the top and downright misogynistic and patriarchal. Women empowerment takes hard blows in specific sequences and the lead seems rude and dis respectful towards his lady in multiple occasions. And finally, in spite of all the statutory warnings, I believe a significant fragment of the Indian audience not prepared for on screen drug and alcohol abuse, specially the youth. Therefore, at times it appears that the movie is somehow promoting toxic behavior, however that’s not the case. Keeping in mind the director’s fair intensions in presenting an intense love story, I urge viewers to watch the movie and share their reactions in the comment section below.

Final verdict: 3.5/5