“The strongest drug that exists for a human is another human being.” A well-known quote by Ella Frank and one of my absolute favorites. Part of my top three.
We live in a world of pleasures. Something that is referred to as Moh-Maya in my native language, Hindi. Most of us are aware of the seven sins, so that sums up the pleasures I’m referring to. So now basically, it means that ‘all things in the world are not real; they are fallacy.’ What should be pursued is the path of spirituality in order to align yourself with the higher power. Now there is a fundamental flaw in the understanding of this advice. It assumes there is a higher power to begin with. Now if you take that last bit out for arguments sake, what is it that you must align yourself with? I’m not an atheist just to be clear, I do believe that there is a higher power.
But if someday, someone proves otherwise, I’m ok with that too. Why? Because as much as I would love to blame my problems, adverse scenarios and undesirable situations on that higher power saying, it’s their plan to make me stronger, I believe more in choices. I choose my life, my scenarios, my moods, my phases, my vices, my drugs and if I want to, I’ll choose my destruction as well. It’s a conscious choice. And a very personal one too.
A drug’s basic characteristic is that in small amounts, it’ll bring you pleasure and relief, but excess of anything is toxic and leads destruction. Just like your choice of drug, coffee, tea, sugar or love. Or a Human Being. But the exception with a “human drug” is that you want to be a better person, for your drug, which doesn’t happen with other drugs. Whether you are after Moh-Maya or not, the path of spirituality or atheism, believe existence of higher power or its absence, at the end of it all, we are all energy. Energy interacting with each other, energy born out of the same Big Bang and thus connected to one another in some way.
Now some of the connections are stronger than others. Why? I don’t know maybe the particles were closer to each other than the others during the explosion. But nonetheless, strong, deep, genuine and meaningful connections exist that go beyond the calculation and understanding of your grey matter which are triggered and imprinted at the same time, instantly upon contact. Love and Hate, both. Now, whether you accept this feeling aroused in your body or not, dissect it or resist it, it hardly matters. It exists, and that’s that. What you do about it, is your choice and how you do it, is what defines you.
The journey you take, to follow your madness which could be a person, one or more sins, drugs, anything else you are after, or just suffering on the face of it, is what will bring you closer to that energy that we were all born from. It’s pain, grief, love and loss that builds your personality. It’s the mirror that shows you who you are and precisely why it’s important that you endure them, to be more aware of who you are. Adversity builds you, not your accomplishments.
Kabir Singh, written and directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga is the remake of the super hit Telugu cult film that struck a chord with the audience in the year 2017, going by the name Arjun Reddy. It put Vijay Deverakonda on the map, forcing people across genres to sit up and notice him. This is Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s second film, the same, in a different language. Very rarely do remakes work, and this is that scenario. As the author of the story was maintained, the authenticity of the story was not compromised and thus brought forth on the silver screen beautifully for the second time.
Kabir, a senior student in a Delhi MBBS university known to be rough due to his lack of anger management skills but brilliant at his craft, falls in love with Preethi, a Junior MBBS student. Love at first sight and then he’s seen marking his territory in the next second is despicable and impressive at the same time, as it brings forth the lightning fast speed at which his emotions accelerate. Head over heels in love, but unable to marry each other as Preethi’s father doesn’t approve, citing caste as the factor, results in Kabir drowning himself in alcohol and smoke when Preethi is married off to another suitor.
Raw and unabashedly himself, Kabir’s character is played by Shahid Kapoor, who dons the role of a Rebel, with a cause. Now here is why it’s so hard not to fall for the lead character. His flaws are magnified. Magnified to such a large degree that it’s what he is identified by and is infamous for. In spite of being excellent at his work, it’s his vices that are blown up at every stage of the film while subtly stroking his virtues. It’s a backward approach and potently effective mind you, because once you like a character despite his vices that also support his virtues, you’ve understood the true meaning of accepting the person as a complete package and not just his good.
An underrated actor, Shahid Kapoor is a power house of talent and charisma bringing in the right balance of madness and sanity to the character. He has pulled off a fabulous one with Kabir Singh that could be dubbed his rebirth in Bollywood as he brings in, his years of experience to the table and also somewhere drawing from his protector & affectionate role that he plays in real life towards his younger wife. The character displays a lover/parent affection beautifully, something that comes naturally to women with their respective partners but is rare in men and of course that is a turn on.
Preethi played by Kiara Advani, is a reserved but stronger than you believe character portrayed beautifully on screen by this young actor. She has understood the mind of a girl who is very different from Kabir when portraying her unconditional love, only to show the audience that she is not. There is a streak of madness to her love towards him as well, just not as pronounced as his. This paradox has been directed so well by the director and executed to the T by Kiara Advani notching up her acting capabilities.
Noteworthy supporting actors who complete the cast are Soham Majumdar who plays Shiva, Kamini Kaushal, Kabir’s Grandmother and Arjan Bajwa playing Kabir’s elder Brother. Scriptwriting and dialogues are a mix of raw, crass talk as well as mature, philosophical truths nicely executed by Siddharth Singh, Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Garima Wahal. Impressive is also how they have maintained and incorporated the Punjabi colloquial language, as the original was in Telugu.
What convinced me to go for the film, were the songs. Words, poetry have a very large impact on me. And when you describe, melancholy, distress, vulnerability and helplessness all together as beautifully as ‘Bekhayaali’ and ‘Tujhe kitna chahne lage hum’ do, it’s a no question asked, going for the film scenario. An absolutely amazing set of background scores and tracks that have been created by so many different people that each one brings in their understanding of pain, is something that I find beautiful.
‘Bekhayaali’ sung by Sachet Tandon, composed by the duo Sachet- Parampara and written by Irshad Kamil is a gut-wrenching song, capturing the emotion of the character spot on. ‘Tujhe kitna chahne lage hum’ comes very close to ‘Bekhayaali’ in term of merit that again, it very poetically describes the helplessness of the lead character. Voiced by Arijit Singh while written and composed by Mithoon. Both tunes are hauntingly melodious along with my favorite Mere Sohneya also having similar qualities as the others, with the exception that it is a happy song. Mere Sohneya is sung by Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur, composed by Sachet Tandon and penned by Irshad Kamil.
Kabir Singh is the story of love, that is intense and raw, depicting vulnerability and magnifying flaws at the same time. The contradiction of the lead character being impeccable at his job but a complete disaster and is self-destruction prone when it comes to dealing with his emotions is a juxtaposition that you just cannot ignore compelling you to question if this is love or pure madness. And that’s precisely the crux of the film.
An intense, emotional human being will love fiercely and destroy even more vehemently. Be it another person or themselves. It’s a personality trait. Everything with them is extreme. There is no middle ground. And that process will be catalyzed if alcohol and other drugs are factored in. So, the people around them should always buckle up for a rash ride. No right or wrong. Just pure, unconditional love that is dipped in madness. So, if you are black and white person you might not appreciate the story telling or even the story as it is all grey area. Something that I as a person believe in thus liking it for the same reason. But if you want to experience or agree that each love story comes with its own unique madness, this one is your weekend watch.
P.S.
Dedicated to a special Punjabi, ‘Delhi Boy’ who is very dear to me.
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