Actor Vijay Deverakonda has responded to the strong criticism that director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Kabir Singh was subjected to after its release. Kabir Singh is the Hindi remake of 2017 Telugu hit film Arjun Reddy, in which Deverakonda played the lead.
In an interview with Film Companion, the actor said though he was anticipating the film would receive criticism, he didn't know it would spark an outcry. Kabir Singh, when it released on June 21, was panned by critics for "glorifying" misogyny and "normalising" violence against women in the name of love. However, its box office collection has been unprecedented. The film has become the biggest blockbuster of this year in India and is also Shahid Kapoor's biggest solo film till date with an earning of Rs 271 crore.
"The kind of criticism Kabir Singh received was slightly different. I got some of this criticism but it wasn't as articulate. But I'm okay with it. It's completely okay to have a problem with a character like Arjun. If these people had met Arjun in their real lives they wouldn't like him. So they don't like him in the movie is not a problem to me," Deverakonda said.
Vanga had dismissed the criticism of Kabir Singh as "pseudo" and opined the women who had said they were uncomfortable with the film, had not experienced real love.
"When you are deeply in love and deeply connected to a woman (and vice versa), if you don't have the liberty of slapping each other, then I don't see anything there," Vanga had said in a video interview with Film Companion, referring to a scene in which Kabir (Shahid Kapoor) slaps his girlfriend, Preeti (Kiara Advani).
Vanga's comments had hit a nerve among the public, with many calling the director out for his "disgusting" definition of love.
When asked about the same, Deverakonda said, "If it is your film; that 250 crore comes over a period of three weeks or one month but the reviews come on day 1. So when you wake up to these reviews, it can shake you up because it's your film."
Defending his director, Deverakonda further said, "I know Sandeep. I have worked with him. For him, the story is not anti-women but about love."
Deverakonda then directly addressed Vanga's controversial statement which the filmmaker made during the video interview last month.
"I completely understand him and I completely understand the people who have an issue with it (Vanga's statement). But none of us is wanting to listen to what he wants to say. Maybe, Sandeep has probably been in a relationship where he loved someone so much that they were intimate as and when they wanted or they abused each other as and they wanted or maybe they hit each other, but they loved each other and they were happy. It comes from the relationship you had as a person. It comes from your own experience, so we can't generalise it.
The actor continued, "What he (Sandeep) said in his way is right because for him that's what love meant. And he absolutely respected and loved that woman, and that woman loved him back. I think we should listen to him and be okay. We're all very unique individuals and have very unique relationships but we want everyone to be like us and believe in the beliefs that we have but it doesn't work like that."
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