Spontaneous Review. #1

Watched Arjun Reddy, Now I am Ready for Kabir Singh. 

Arjun Reddy. Naam Toh Bohut Suna Tha. Always wanted to watch it, but couldn’t find the right occasion.  The release of the teaser of Shahid Kapoor starrer Kabir Singh, an official remake of Arjun Reddy (2017), provided the right impetus and occasion to check out what all the fuss is about. So, here I am, no longer an Arjun Reddy virgin. And that’s the apt description I can come up for the film’s eponymous hero who in the first five minutes or so of the film could have easily banged any hole in sight (with permission, of course). In fact, he is so horny; he has to cool his libido by putting ice on his crotch area. Yeah, it’s that kind of a film – no beating around the bush, straight to the point. 

I like the way ‘masculine sexuality’ has been presented in the film. Arjun Reddy is not just an angry young man; he is a horny young man too. Actor Vijay Deverakonda who is a new age Telugu star boasts of a gym-built body and never misses an occasion to take off his shirt. During his medical student days, every time he passes by a bunch of girls or even stands near one they behave like they are either going to bite him, worship him or submit completely to him, no in-between.  But of course, he falls in love with a girl who is simple, salwar kameez clad and definitely behaves like a successor of Bhumika Chawla from Tere Naam. In other words - plain boring.

Very early in the film, Arjun says – 

I am not a rebel without a cause, n(or) a murderer with a hand blade.

Not sure about the latter but he is definitely a rebel without a cause. Especially in the first half, when he hadn’t fallen in love yet and had no basis to base his anger on. Yes, the anger gives him a kind of sex-appeal but his complete lack of empathy towards others - barring, of course, the girl who is suffering from an acute case of Nirjara prototype – is hard to swallow.  

The entire narrative of the film is based on the philosophy – Who said medical students don’t/can’t have fun? It’s strange that there is not a single person in his college to challenge his position as the most popular rowdy student. He without even trying goes from being the favourite senior of his college to being the favourite surgeon in a hospital he later works in, where nurses pour him drinks and tolerate his alcoholism to show their obeisance.

However one cannot deny the palpable sexual energy of the film and it is also the best thing about the film. Vijay Deverakonda is not only a good actor but also a reluctant sex-symbol. With his beard-on look, he resembles Shahid Kapoor. So, it only makes sense that Kapoor is playing the lead in the Hindi remake – Kabir Singh. Vijay won the South Filmfare award (Best Telegu Actor) for his role but I doubt Shahid will be able to repeat the same feat. In a diplomatic, pretentious, sanitized, post #MeToo movement world of Bollywood the character of Arjun Reddy will be called various names such as sexist, misogynist… you name it. The kissing scene, in particular, will give rise to a dozen of millennial ‘woke’ articles written by twentysomethings, sitting comfortably in their homes.

At various instances, even I felt that he crosses the line of acceptable behaviour, but hey, he never forces a girl to sleep with him. In fact, he asks permission from an actress in the course to film to fulfill his physical needs. Although, I won’t deny that Arjun Reddy suffers from ‘your misogyny is better than my misogyny’ complex, especially when he chases a maid for breaking glasses and probably would have hit her if not for his friend.  Or you can call him an ‘equalist’ who doesn’t discriminate between man and woman when he is angry.

One more instance when I laughed out loud was when Arjun asked his girlfriend to sit with a ‘fat chick’ as fat chicks are not jealous of pretty girls. But I blame the writers for it.

Arjun Reddy is a ‘diaper’ wearing, educated vagabond who smokes, drinks and gets high to nurture his self-indulgent nature. However, the following lines justify everything, cinematically, of course  –

Being born, being in love and then dying..

These are just 10% of the important moments in our life.

The rest are just reactions to these moments.

This is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. I will make sure that I watch Kabir Singh in a single screen theatre. It is a film that has the capacity to expose a viewer’s mentality – good, bad or ugly.

To sum it up, I don’t hate Arjun Reddy but I definitely do not want to be his friend. Not a perfect film but I suppose that was never the intention.

Written By:

David Lagachu

8011770756

lagachu.david63@gmail.com

NOTE: Spontaneous Movie Review. This is a space for me to write about films, TV shows, books, events etc, the way I exactly feel about them on viewing. I don’t want to feel the pressure of sounding intelligent or appearing as someone who knows his way around words. Period.