Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the director of Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani starrer Kabir Singh is in the eye of the storm for his controversial comments during an explosively bizarre interview with an eminent film journalist. During the interview, while talking about the physical abuse that the protagonist indulges in he had said, “When you are deeply connected with a woman or vice versa, there is a lot of honesty in it. If you don't have that physical demonstration of...if you don't have that liberty of slapping each other, then I don't see anything there.” His extremely regressive views on love and relationship had received tremendous flak on social media.
However, looks like the director is trying to make amends and in another interview to leading daily, he clarified that he was misquoted. He said, “I had to say what I had to say. And then they cut out portions of my comments so that people don't know what I said before and after some of the comments that have created a controversy. The content was edited in a very wrong way so that a section of women got another chance to attack me. But, I was trying to explain my protagonist's mindset. How Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh feels is not exactly what I feel. Violence may be his way of expressing love. It's not mine.”
Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani in a still from Kabir Singh
He even went ahead and slammed those who judged how Kabir and Preeti express their love for each other. Talking about his characters he said, “I never said one 'needs' to slap. All I meant was, one needs to be fully honest in a committed relationship. And that honesty can take on a violent form. And why is only Kabir slapping his girlfriend Preeti being talked about? What about the fact that she too slaps him back? It works both ways. How they express their love is their choice. Why are some people judging them? And judging me for the way the character’s behaviour? My point is, in a true relationship the emotions can get raw and violent.”
Sandeep also explained his own stance in his personal relationship with his partner. Hen asked whether he will resort to violence with his partner, he said, “I would do anything and everything with my partner to make sure I am my real self. I would drop all defenses, pull down all my guards. For me, the essence of a strong relationship is honesty. I wouldn't say I'd slap my partner. Even in the film...how do I explain to the idiots that, 'Preeti ne pehle maari hai, phir Kabir ne maara'. It's pointless to harp on the slap."
Although Kabir Singh received a lot of backlash for the misogyny and violence depicted on the film it is still going strong in the theatres and is currently marching towards the Rs 250 crore milestone.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
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