Ever since Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani starrer Kabir Singh hit the screens on June 21, 2019, Kapoor’s character in the film raised many eyebrows. The film which was the remake of 2017’s hit film Arjun Reddy, was labeled to be glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. While many celebs came in support of Shahid Kapoor, others celebs like Taapsee Pannu, Sona Mohapatra didn’t take long to slam the misogyny in the film. During a recent interview, when Diljit Dosanjh (who also received same kind of criticism for his character in Udta Punjab) was asked about the same, he said these are just films, they should not impact the audience.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Diljit said, “If you think people should learn from everything an actor does onscreen, then it will become very difficult for us to perform various characters… actor ko chor bhi banna hai aur sant bhi (an actor has to play both sinner and saint). As artists, we try and portray new characters and make them look convincing. That doesn’t mean I don’t put in enough thoughts before signing a film. Agar mujhe lage ke yeh film char paise bana sakti hai, aur isse kuch zyada harm nahin hai community ko, toh main kar leta hoon.”
He further added, “If I feel a film has the potential to make money at the box office and, at the same time, it won’t harm society, I’d happily do it. Lekin har cheez aapko sikha nahin sakti. Aur agar sikhna hai to Guru Granth Sahib, Gita ya Quran se sikhna chahiye. Kabir Singh is just a character that Shahid played onscreen. He isn’t the same person in real life. Also the fact that people are watching it, means they’re enjoying it. I think the audience is educated enough to understand what’s right and wrong. They’ll also realise we’re responsible enough to not promote anything that might be harmful in the long run.”