Filmmaker Satish Kaushik called Kabir Singh an ‘adapted copy’ of his film Tere Naam starring Salman Khan. Both Kabir Singh and Tere Naam have been criticised for having leads exhibiting toxic masculinity.
Talking to Indian Express, Kaushik said, “We’ll definitely need to adapt with the times. Making the same film and getting the same performance out of Salman will be difficult. Salman always said the film is good and will definitely work. But the character gives the wrong message in it. There was a debate on Kabir Singh too. Kabir Singh was an adapted copy of Tere Naam.”
Addressing the criticism about Tere Naam, Kaushik added, “(In ‘Tere Naam’) The guy is trying to tell the girl that he loves her, yet he is not ready to take no from her. That’s definitely not good."
He further said, "But if you notice, that’s the culture in small cities even today, where a guy ends up running after a girl. As a filmmaker, your responsibility, whether you want to show such a love story or not, is a different issue altogether. One would definitely want to avoid that (today). You can’t fall in love with someone who’s said no to you. But that’s what passion was all about then, where you won’t take no from a person.”
Tere Naam was written by Jainendra Jain and Bala and stars Salman as Radhe Mohan who threatens and kidnaps a woman Nirjara (played by Bhumika Chawla) claiming to 'love' her. In Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Kabir Singh, Shahid Kapoor plays the lead role. The film was criticised for glorifying Kabir’s violent and toxic behaviour.
Satish Kaushik had announced a sequel to Tere Naam in 2011.
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