Kabir Singh actor Shahid Kapoor takes dig at artists who play perfect characters on-screen but do the opposite in real life

Back in 2019, Shahid Kapoor took the internet by storm after he featured in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's highly debated film, Kabir Singh. Also starring Kiara Advani, the film became the talk of the town for the longest time. To date, the film and Shahid's portrayal of Kabir are discussed on various platforms. Recently, Shahid Kapoor appeared on Faye D'Souza's talk show and spoke largely about his controversial movie. Despite facing massive backlash back then, Kabir Singh was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2019. 

In the new interview, Shahid shared his views on the film and revealed if it reflected what already exists in society. He also took a dig at actors for portraying perfect characters on-screen but they are the absolute opposite in their real lives. 

Shahid Kapoor: 'My role as an artist is to represent and show life'

Shahid and Kiara teamed up for Kabir Singh for the first time and their on-screen chemistry was highly loved by the audience. However, a section of people questioned the actors for taking up Vanga's film. In a recent interview, Shahid shared how artists cannot be blamed for taking up such roles. He also said that his character just represented and showed the audience life. On being asked if Kabir Singh reflected what was already in society or does Cinema has the power to lead society?

Shahid Kapoor said, "Let me say this if somebody saw Kabir Singh and said, 'I never want to know somebody like Kabir', I'd be absolutely fine with that." He added, "I have never met somebody who's told me 'I started behaving like this.' There's certification for that purpose. You certify the film so that you define what age bracket should watch it and then when it is meant for adults, then you treat adults as adults. Who am I to decide what they should or shouldn't watch? My job as an actor is to do the best that I can to help them understand who this character is and why he is behaving the way that he is. It's not my job to judge that character. I am putting myself on a pedestal by deciding for you what you should or shouldn't watch. Who am I to decide that? Who am I to decide that you will get influenced positively or negatively by that character? I cannot do that because then I am putting myself above you. My role as an artist is to represent and show life. What you take from it is really up to you and you cannot blame it on the artist. I don't think that's right because my role is to reflect life and all things happen in life, good characters, bad characters, or grey characters."

Did Shahid Kapoor take a dig at other artists?

During the conversation, while speaking about the film, Shahid also spoke about artists who are way different from their on-screen persona. He shared, "If I were standing here and defending my character saying, 'He's the nicest guy, what are you talking about? This is exactly how you should be...' I mean there are so many artists who play these very perfect characters but they do the absolute opposite in their real life. For me, that is a choice that I would want to feel extremely responsible about because well, it begins with my children and my family. I don't want them to grow up seeing me as the kind of person who is doing all the wrong things. If they see me as a person, as a father, as a husband, as a son, if I am doing those things right and who am I as an artist is a completely different aspect of my personality. It's not about who I am, it's about who we all can be, who we all choose to be. Your learning has to be from that. 

Without defending Kabir Singh, he said that the audience can walk away if they don't like a particular movie. He went on to ask if guys like Kabir Singh and girls like Preeti exist, then why a movie can't be made about it. He further added, "You cannot make films that are never addressing what's happening in life. I don't think a lot of things that Kabir did were acceptable at all. I would not accept a guy like that. But do guys like that exist? Do girls like that fall in love with guys like that? Yes, they do. So why can't we make a movie about it? You walk away and decide what you like or don't like."

Shahid Kapoor will be next seen in Deva alongside Pooja Hegde. The film will hit theatres on 31st January 2025. 

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