Kabir Singh: Shahid Kapoor says wife Mira Rajput encouraged him to sign Arjun Reddy remake

Kabir Singh , Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Hindi remake of Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy, has been Shahid Kapoor’s biggest blockbuster so far. Criticism notwithstanding, the film has managed to break multiple records at the box office. Still running in theatres, the drama  has raked in Rs 235.72 crore at the Indian box office and is expected to cross the Rs 250-crore mark by this week.

In a recent interaction , Shahid confessed that it was his wife Mira Rajput, who encouraged him to take up the role after watching Arjun Reddy as she felt that such a film should be part of Shahid’s body of work. “She was always very optimistic and believed that this is a character I should have in my filmography. We had watched Arjun Reddy together and she loved the director’s (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) work and felt that the character had potential. And if we were able to get it right, it’d be a very special character in my life. So, Mira was very happy when she watched the film,” the actor told  India Today .

Kabir Singh is a remake of Telugu blockbuster  Arjun Reddy , starring  Vijay Deverakonda  and Shalini Pandey. It follows a young, successful surgeon played by Kapoor, who turns to a life of drugs and alcohol after his college sweetheart marries another man. The film also stars Kamini Kaushal, Suresh Oberoi, Arjan Bajwa, and Adil Hussain.

Despite the tremendous performance at the box office, the film has been criticised for its blunt endorsement of misogyny and patriarchy. Kabir Singh has also received flak for normalising  violence against women.

Defending his film against such criticism, Vanga  said  in a recent interview, “If you can’t slap, can’t touch your woman wherever you want, if you can’t kiss her, I don’t see emotion (in the relationship).” He added that critics are “parasites who are the real threat to the film industry”.