Kabir Khan on Kabir Singh: Toxic character okay as long as it isn’t glorified
Ever since the Shahid Kapoor-blockbuster, Kabir Singh was released, it has been criticised by a section of the audience and media, who felt that the film promotes toxic masculinity. Filmmaker Kabir Khan is of the opinion that as long as a toxic character is not glorified in a film, there is nothing wrong in dealing with such a subject.
“If a character has toxic masculinity, that is not the problem. It is ultimately about how I (the filmmaker) portray him in the film. That matters. Am I glorifying him or showing him as a broken piece? It also depends on how the audience perceives it,” says Khan, when asked about the subject of toxic masculinity in films such as Kabir Singh.
He further adds, “I feel politically incorrect people are damn exciting. So, creating such a character is interesting. But it all depends on what comment a filmmaker is making using such a character at the end of the film.”
Khan has been known for making socio-political comments in films such as Kabul Express (2006), New York (2009), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015). Khan, who has faced censorship issues in the past, on being asked about the same, says, “There should not be any censorship and the film certification board, if they feel that a certain kind of content is not suitable for a certain age group, they can bring more ratings instead of just ‘U’, ‘A’, ‘U/A’. But they should not be censoring films. Censorship sometimes creates the most idiotic situations.”