Shahid Kapoor had the best of both worlds after the release of one of the biggest films of this year and his career, Kabir Singh. While his acting chops were widely appreciated and he surely gained many new fans, there was a section of the society that criticised Sasha for choosing to portray the character.
Albeit fictional, many felt that Kabir was unworthy of being a hero due to his misogyny, hotheaded behaviour, insensitivity towards women and his sense of entitlement. The hero of 2019’s highest grossers didn’t treat women well, had anger management issues and showed signs of being a bully – which is inappropriate for a Bollywood hero considering the level of fandom in our country.
This criticism indirectly affects the way award shows’ organisers think. During an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Farah Khan spoke about the organisers’ perspective, stating that despite the film’s massive success, it may not get the recognition at the awards’ season next year.
She said:
Every person with a phone is a critic. On social media, random people are giving their critical analysis but it’s talking nothing about the film per se. There must be just one or two critics who evaluate a film like how was it shot, how was the direction, screenplay kaisa tha etc. I just feel that if your content is good and if people want to watch it, it will work. But it is harmful in some ways. Like I was talking to Shahid Kapoor. His film Kabir Singh has done so well. But because it got criticised so badly, I just feel that if he is going to win some award for it, then the organisers might have second thoughts looking at the barrage of criticism that the film got.
Farah makes a fair point. What do you guys think? Tell us in the comments below.