Pankaj Kapur defends Shahid Kapoor, Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Kabir Singh: 'Toxic masculinity exists in society'

Veteran Bollywood actor Pankaj Kapur has spoken out about the criticism of his son, Shahid Kapoor's film, Kabir Singh, for allegedly promoting toxic masculinity. In 2019, Shahid Kapoor starred in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Bollywood directorial debut, Kabir Singh, which is an official remake of Vanga's Telugu hit, Arjun Reddy. Kabir Singh went on to become an all-time blockbuster, but it also met with extreme criticism for its 'toxic' titular character and representation of toxic masculinity. 

Recently, Pankaj Kapur interacted with Lallantop, and he proudly reflected on the career choices Shahid took in recent times. Sr Kapur stated that Shahid is very good in drama and excels in complex characters. However, Shahid was initially considered only for romantic roles. Prasing Shahid's performance in Haider, Farzi, and Kabir Singh, he also shared his views on the criticism for Sandeep Vanga's film, and said, "That is okay because it doesn’t mean that toxic masculinity doesn’t exist. It exists in society, and because somebody made a film on it, we started objecting to it. This is our own outlook." 

Pankaj further added that as an actor, it's his job to reflect the world as it is, and not to sanitise it. Films show the world as it is — not as we wish it to be. Kabir Singh showed a flawed man, but that’s what makes it compelling." He also emphasised that cinematic storytelling sparks necessary discussions about human complexity.

The Maqbool actor credits Vishal Bhardwaj for tapping the true potential of Shahid with Kaminey and Haider. He said, "For a long time, I used to tell him and others that his main potential is drama and that nobody has tapped it. He was getting only sweet boy roles. It was tapped by Vishal Bhardwaj. These films have a big role in bringing forth the actor inside Shahid later. Shahid also became intelligent about which films to do and which not to do. He performed brilliantly in Haider, but he also performed wonderfully in Farzi."