Kabir Singh

'Kabir Singh' is truly the survival of the despicable. Their collective action — when they break up — is a crash course on self-flagellation. It's also a much-needed departure from the usual syrupy Bollywood love stories that showcase grand gestures. Put a ring on 'Kabir Sigh' if you are in the mood for watching a love story that's wonderfully wicked and warped.

Reddy's direction is impressive. He knows his material well and keeps it on a tight leash, never skipping a beat. Let's face it, the love story genre is well loved but it is also one of the toughest to crack. Reddy despite a brooding despairing protagonist takes things many notches higher and makes it one helluva trippy ride.

The film is Shahid Kapoor's canvas and he portrays the noir and naturally flawed character, Kabir Singh with unmatched sincerity. A nuanced performance, inclusive of all the excesses his character is guilty of, Shahid makes them look real, even though in reality they may seem incredulous. His pain, anger, obsession, caring and even self-destruction appear raw and real.

While Kabir Singh is a welcome change from stereotypical love stories, this kind of love affair needs some getting used to. If you can generally accept the fact that human beings can be flawed (sometimes deeply flawed), you will be able to stomach this rebellious story of love with extreme madness, often lacking rationale and reason. Through his protagonist, Sandeep bets all his cards on his leading man, making sure you either love him or hate him, but you can't ignore him.

This film is a fascinating character study that should resonate with those willing to overlook its occasional clunky narrative.

Kabir Singh is a good watch mainly because of how well the main character is balanced by Shahid Kapoor. Vanga doesn't lose sight of the journey and doesn't forget that amidst all the existentialist dilemmas and song placements, he's telling a modern tale of a toxic male which cannot be justified but has to be told in an entertaining, compelling way. And that it does!

This Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani adaptation of Arjun Reddy could have been 40 minutes shorter

The 174-minute film might appeal to the multiplex-going young audience but it could have been pruned by a discernible editor at least by half-an-hour to make it a racier love story, without harming the flawed character of the hypertensive Devdas of our times.

From treating women like toys, trampling all over their feelings and then acting like a wounded martyr and misunderstood genius wronged by the world, Kabir Singh rounds up every foolish male's ultimate fantasy. Lack of rules can be refreshing, but to watch a sicko getting away after ticking every wrong in the book just rankles.

Kabir Singh spends 120 minutes of its 154 in showing Kabir either drinking or drunk or snorting cocaine or needling in morphine or fighting with people or, slapping his girlfriend or screaming at her. Or making out. In the remaining 24 minutes, his repentance is done with, and we all go home with a happy ending. If you think it is okay, if you think it is justified because 'movie hai yaar, it's not real life', you are part of the problem.

Kabir Singh and its Telugu forebear Arjun Reddy must rank among the most disturbing examples of the obsessive stalker hero being glamourised by Indian cinema.

It is difficult to watch "Kabir Singh" as a standalone film if you've watched "Arjun Reddy." Sandeep Reddy Vanga's new film is a scene-by-scene remake of his 2017 Telugu-language blockbuster, and much like his protagonist, its flaws are obvious to everyone but himself.

Just like the man of the title, the director seems stuck in a moment he doesn't want to get out of. Kabir Singh reimagines the Indian hero archetype in interesting ways, but its inability to even consider the flaws in its leading man's romantic outlook is its undoing. Is masochism the flip side of machismo? Both movies seem to agree, but they never ask why.

The entire film, just like the original, is dependent on and propelled by the performance of the star at the centre. And however good Shahid Kapoor might be in living the trauma and angst of the character, you still can't get away from the sickening male entitlement.