More than a year since Kabir Singh‘s release and you will still find someone or the other tut-tutting at the misogynistic messaging of the film. However, that’s clearly not the case with the lead actress Kiara Advani who is still trying to defend her film, somehow!
Kiara was heard talking about the film in a recent episode of Neha Dhupia’s virtual chat show and it was during their conversation that the Kabir Singh topic came up. Speaking on the same, she shared, “I was happy when Guilty came out and Good Newwz came out and people were like okay, wow, she’s a versatile actress and you know I’ve got all the critical acclaim for that. But, with Kabir, I think, I was very nervous before the film release because I was aware that section of backlash would come because we saw it happen with the first film. So, we knew it would happen.”
However, Kiara wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of the backlash that they have actually received. “We didn’t expect the extent of it because of course with the Hindi Film Industry, it’s a larger audience and the way the film reached out to people.”
Okay, firstly, Kabir Singh received backlash for its problematic characters and the misogynistic plot, not ‘coz the film’s Tamil version received it too. And in case, they already knew it then why on Earth didn’t they try to address the problems with the plot? But wait, there’s more.
While Kiara insists that the film has been harshly judged, she also says that it was the final scene that ‘justified everything.’ Here’s what she has to say: “For me, that scene showed her strength, she wasn’t just going to just go back to the man she loved. She decided to raise a child on her own, she left, she left him, she left the man her parents forced her to marry. I just felt she was not the woman that maybe other people saw her to be till that interval and I felt unfortunate for those people who did have the comments of misogyny and all of that which of course there is a part of the character but that’s something that was always known to the audience when you see it in the promos also.”
She adds, “Unfortunately, some people just made the slap, the whole movie about one slap. It was not about one slap. That’s not something that I stand for. And, that’s not something that I would ever stand for and that’s not something Preeti stood for, either. Because she left him, she’s like no way, you have ruined whatever we’ve had and she doesn’t go back to him and he comes finding her and even at that moment she doesn’t want to see his face but they have a confrontation and that’s what is their climax scene, I think it was 20 minutes long, where everything is discussed, argued and I guess, love is love at the end of the day. They both come back together.”
No, Kiara don’t feel sorry for those who called out the film’s misogyny. Perhaps feel sorry for yourself given that you can not see anything misogynistic with it! Also, we guess the actor has really forgotten her film’s plot given that she has no memory of how Preeti actually goes to Kabir’s house even after he slaps her all set to marry him. So, no Preeti didn’t really mind the slap unlike Kiara is trying to project here while clearly underestimating the public memory.
Also, can someone please tell her that the film would still have been problematic even if it wasn’t for the slap? The character of Kabir is legit what stalkers and harassers are made of. I mean, I am totally guessing how comfortable Kiara herself would be if a man were to approach her the Kabir Singh style in real life. Just saying!
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