The Kabir Singh Effect: Glorification of Toxic Masculinity

Should cinema shoulder a moral responsibility towards socio-political course correction in our society? Should cinema play a role in navigating socio-cultural narratives of our society lest validating misogyny and toxic masculinity?

From time to time, Bollywood comes back and puts sexism and misogyny in the driver seat. What makes it worse is these films turn out to be big hits on the box office thus normalising the message of misogyny. An example of such a film is Kabir Singh directed by Sandeep Vanga, starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani.

Here’s how the plot goes: Kabir’s grandma remembers a time with her friends when a young Kabir misplaced his treasured doll and sought it obsessively. When the grandma tries to convince young Kabir to let go of his doll, he reacts emphatically, insisting that it is his doll and must find it.

When Kabir Singh grows up and goes to medical school, he finds himself a ‘new doll.’ Except, this time it’s a real woman named Preeti, played…