Shahid’s Mother Defends ‘Kabir Singh’, Compares It to ‘Godfather’

‘Kabir Singh’ released on 21 June

Shahid Kapoor and his mother Neelima  Azeem.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Despite receiving flak for its toxic misogyny and problematic portrayal of romantic relationships, the Shahid Kapoor-starrer has broken records at the box office. Even as social media is abuzz with netizens criticising the film, those belonging to the film fraternity have supported Kabir Singh. After Shahid’s brother Ishaan Khattar, now Shahid’s mother too has defended the on-screen persona.

In an interview with Midday, Shahid’s mother, Neelima Azeem, said that Kabir Singh is an “intelligent remake.” She defended Shahid’s decision to play the character by calling it a “meaty role.” She even compared Kabir Singh to Godfather and Dilip Kumar’s Amar.

Here’s what she said:

“Actors have the freedom to play morally controversial characters because they make for meaty roles. Tomorrow, if you play a psychopathic serial killer, will everybody watching the movie become one? Dilip [Kumar] saab and Rajesh Khanna played grey roles in Amar and Red Rose. Are you suggesting that every grey role be scrapped? In Hollywood, actors have won Oscars for characters like these. If we can't make such movies, then we will have to scrap films like Marlon Brando's A Streetcar Named Desire, Godfather and Heath Ledger's Joker [The Dark Knight]. One needs to understand that it is a story and not a lecture on morality."

“He suffers because of his attitude. The film is not glorifying the character. Instead, it warns you against becoming like Kabir Singh.”

Neelima Azeem further added that above all, Kabir Singh is about the protagonist’s journey from being a student to an adult who returns home. According to her, he “suffers because of his attitude.” Moreover, she called Kabir Singh a cautionary tale of sorts.

She argued, "It is a hard-hitting film, and shows [the protagonist's] arc — he changes from the [brash] student at the university to the one who returns home after his grandmother's demise. He suffers because of his attitude. The film is not glorifying the character. Instead, it warns you against becoming like Kabir Singh.”

“He is about to [rape her] in the dark. As soon as the light comes on, he realises [his folly] and throws the knife away. It’s symbolic in that sense.”

When directly asked about the scene at the beginning of the film where Kabir Singh is about to rape a woman at knife-point, Neelima argued that while Kabir was going to rape her in the dark, he realised his mistake as soon as the light came on.

Here’s what she said: “He is about to [rape her] in the dark. As soon as the light comes on, he realises [his folly] and throws the knife away. It's symbolic in that sense.”

Earlier, Shahid’s brother Ishaan Khattar too had defended Kabir Singh while responding to a comment on his photo with Shahid. Here’s what he said, “No, actually it is quite the opposite. It’s an appreciation post for a gem of a human being and an actor par excellence. As for your read *on the film*, it is cinema. Everybody should have an opinion. I don’t agree with yours. But that’s a conversation for another day. enjoy your day.”

(With inputs from Midday)