Kabir Singh Review: Shahid Kapoor breathes life into a flawed, disturbing character

Shahid Kapoor has been raising the bar with each of his powerful and un-conventional roles and Kabir Singh was no different. The actor has lived up to all expectations and with his portrayal of an edgy, sadomasochist character made popular by Vijay Devrakonda back in 2017 with Arjun Reddy. 

The storyline and plot structuring are no different to its Telegu counterpart but it is the execution by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and the power-packed performances of the actors with the subtle blend of anger, awe and innocence that made the film stand strong.

Kabir Rajveer Singh(Shahid Kapoor), a medical student from Delhi falls for a junior fellow student, Preeti (Kiara Advani). The first half is contributed to building their relationship arc, a sweet romance that appears too true to eyes. Fondness for each other intensifies with a love-struck Preeti following Kabir to Mussorie and a few steamy songs that follow soon after. Soon things take a tragic turn in the second half of the movie when Kabir reaches Preeti's house to seek her parent's permission for marriage.

The second half unfolds Kabir’s journey from a dejected lover in the path of self-destruction. How he shuffles through his professional and personal life, how his family backs him, how alcohol worsens his conditions, how he wades past five years of a professional ban and where is Preeti? All this and a lot more are answered in the latter half.

Characterization of Kabir Singh appears problematic in many instances. He loves his Preeti but owns her even more. He protects her fiercely but in turn, possesses her even more so much so that it turns Preeti meek and she fails to raise a voice even when she is losing her love to her family values. You are initially in awe of the vehemence of Shahid's passion, but after a point, it starts getting disturbing.
Shahid Singh excels in his act but considering his earlier performances in Udtaa Punjab, Haider, Kaminey; Kabir Singh appears to be a cake-walk. Nevertheless, Kiara Advani after contributing with small roles in movies like Kalank, MS Dhoni gets to establish herself as a standalone actor with a meatier role. 

Kiara Advani feels & looks her character Preeti. It’s not at all easy to make your presence felt when you’ve another performer grabbing all the eyeballs. Kiara manages to hold our attention to her performance very well although her screentime is restricted.

If you can believe in Kabir Singh's passionate yet discomforting love and its outfall, Shahid Kapoor's yet another disgruntled angry young man avatar, sharp editing, brilliant outstanding background score will make for an impressive one time watch.