Kabir Singh Review: Shahid Kapoor Is Magnificent, Sandeep Reddy’s Kabir Singh Hits The Bulls Eye Straightaway!

Movie: Kabir Singh

Actors: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani

Director: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

My Verdict: Kabir Singh Is A Must Watch For Everyone Who Has Fallen In Love, For Anyone Who Is Free Spirited, For Anyone Who Wants To Be Free-spirited And For Anyone Who Is Practical!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh is brash, he is foul-mouthed and doesn’t think twice before speaking out his mind. The film is a remake of the Telegu film Arjun Reddy and it is a shot by shot copy of it. This is why one would wonder what was the need to make a whole new film instead of just getting the original film dubbed and re-released. The director might have been consumed with the idea to make it a little more pan-India appealing.

Shahid has played lot many roles in his career and this happens to be one of his best. He seems too have lived Kabir Singh, so much so that it is difficult to tell how much of it is Shahid himself and how much of it is director Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

Now, the problem lies at the crux of understanding the difference of being what practicality is and what is - working according to the fancies of the world.

Kabir Singh is young, he is bold, he is upfront and he is practical. The others are not the way he is. He wants what he wants and that is it! He doesn't understand, why would there be a hullaballoo for that?

Well, if he feels muscle-flexing and some raised voice is right when thwarted - so be it. It's about individuality. We are not here to judge characters; we are here to watch the film and see whether it makes a point or no! And in this case, the film sure does. Kabir Singh keeps saying, “Meri Bandi Hai” (she's my girl) well, that’s exactly how friends talk among themselves. There is no need to be hypocritical in this case. We all know it. That’s exactly how it happens.             

Kabir is a top student with excellent academic records and he is in that particular ollege because he likes the Delhi cold. How could have easily gotten admission in any other college, this again speaks of his bent of mind and his free-spirit.

Kiara Advani’s Preeti Sikka happens to be this sweet, innocent girl who is new to the medical college and is a little taken aback by Kabir’s flamboyance. She appears to not be reactive at all in the beginning and that is how new college students are – a little petrified of the seniors, a little bogged down by the pressure of their studies and a little wary about the reaction of their professors and kins. She didn’t have much to do in the film until the end, when she bursts out into a rant about everything she underwent in her life because of the man who was a little to selfish according to her and for a man who didn’t quite understand what it is like to be a girl in this world. That’s when she came into her own and that’s how a girl would react in that exact situation!

Coming to the script and screenplay, as it has been earlier said, the film is a shot by shot copy of the original and therefore the script was taut and fine just like the original one and therefore, more than the script, in this case, it is the performances and the direction that takes centre stage. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga does a great job in extracting the performances from Shahid and Kiara and not to forget that one friend of Kabir’s who stays with him through thick and thin. The characters he etched are bold and they do exist in real life. That’s how things happen in reality. It is not sugar and honey all the time. The role of the sensible grandmother, who has seen the world and understands Kabir better than his own father, played by Kamini Kaushal is another mentionable facet of the film These are the characters that make you want to love the film! Arjan Bajwa plays Kabir’s brother and he does an okay job. He doesn’t have anything pivotal in the film but the support that he lends his brother during trying times is what anyone would want from a brother.

The dialogues by Siddharth Singh, Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Garima Wahal again deserve a special mention because they have managed to maintain a sense of reality and everyday usage of lingos in that age group. The music by Harshvardhan Rameshwar too was soulful and did what it needs to do at any given point in time to the emotions and feelings of the viewer and that is what’s most needed. The edit too is smooth and without any glitches at all and that makes the three-hour long film even more watchable.

For anyone who has loved, for anyone who has faced ragging, for anyone who has been ragged, for anyone who feels a little free-spirited, this film is a must watch for them – You have to watch this film!