Here’s an interview nobody was Reddy for
Disclaimer: This is a review of the interview with Sandeep Vanga Reddy where he reviews the reviews of his film ‘Kabir Singh’. If you haven’t seen the interview, you should probably head to Youtube and while away those precious 35 minutes of your life that you could’ve otherwise invested in finding an alternative fuel source.
Before we begin, this is to clarify I haven’t seen the film. I don’t want to.
Not because I’m not curious. I definitely am. I would love some of that popcorn. Much like everybody else equally exposed to pop-culture, yo boy is a sucker for the drama.
Also, I READ SCOOPWHOOP ARTICLES.
You could probably write it on my tombstone as I get hit by a bus, scrolling through an article titled ‘10 books to read before you die’.
The FOMO has taken over every cell of my body. I don’t know what kind of person that makes me. All I know is that yesterday I found on the internet that the song ‘Piya Basanti’ has a sequel video and suddenly my life will never be the same again.
Also, its definitely not because I don’t have free time on my hands. I am totes free. Yesterday, I was so bored, I turned on my Tata Sky connection and watched what was the telemarketing channel for an hour straight. I mean I don’t even know what I’m going to do with a Morrison’s 3 in 1 Ultimate Food Processor, Juicer and Mixer Grinder. I just sat through it because I was that indecisive of what else the television had to offer.
That’s right, I chose to watch Asian Sky Shop instead of watching that movie.
And no. It definitely isn’t to send out a message. As much as I, a privileged, well-educated male, would like my act of little rebellion by not watching a film be a strong message to the feminist movement, it is important to understand its not in my place to send out a message. Especially pertaining to issues that have absolutely nothing to do with me, I’ve realized (and it took me 24 goddamn years to realize it) that sometimes it's important to understand the value in ‘shutting the fuck up and letting the women do the talking’.
The reason why I didn’t watch the film is that my exemplary skills of deduction have concluded that it will probably be a really bad film. And the reason I come to this conclusion is that I saw a trailer on Youtube featuring a guy smoking two cigarettes and drinking whiskey straight from the bottle while growing a beard twice the size of his face. And I refuse to pay 300 bucks, wear a pair of jeans and step out of my house on a rainy weekend, only to watch, on a bigger screen, something I can probably watch at any nearby Engineering Boys Hostel.
And I’ve made a decision. I’ve reached a point in my life where I can enjoy watching interviews of creators promoting their content on Youtube without watching the actual content.
So no, I’m not going to watch Stranger Things Season 3. I don’t have the patience and capacity to go through another 8 episodes of little kids being tormented by evil monsters. I’ve already had enough PE classes in High school for that (Also, Balwinder sir, if you’re reading this, then yes I don’t have it in me to run that 10th fucking lap and yes I’d rather dive in a pool of Butter Chicken rolls than choose fitness).
But at the same time, I’m going to watch each and every interview on the internet featuring those kids. This includes Fallon, Kimmel, Conan, Ellen and that paparazzi who asked Dacre Montgomery to “ smile and be happy” for his photograph.
I’ll watch all of that, because thanks to the internet, I have developed something called the need for instant gratification. It started with me not reading enough books because watching a movie takes much less time and has now narrowed down to me not watching any film and TV show, because if all I want is to watch is a little guy with no teeth being hella cute, I’ll just switch to the IMDB interview of him eating a giant waffle fudge.
Similarly, I don’t need to watch an arrogant, self-absorbed, misogynistic prick being humanized in a 3-hour long movie. I’ll just head to Youtube and watch a 35-minute interview doing the same thing.
I’m kidddddding!
Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the director of ‘Kabir Singh’ starring Shahid Kapoor, is not the protagonist of his movie. He’s not, and we’ll run that down again from the top- an arrogant, self-absorbed, misogynistic prick.
This article is not judging him at all, especially not on a half an hour-long interview with film critic and director of MAMI, Anupama Chopra on her Youtube Channel ‘Film Companion’.
Like all content, as regularly mentioned by the ardent fandom of creators like Louis CK and Bill Cosby, it's important to separate the art from the artist. That a few minutes of public candour, in a show or an interview, should in no manner be the judge of a man’s character.
So in this article, I am in no way, judging Sandeep Reddy as a person. He’s not, and we’ll go through this again for the sake of literary emphasis- an arrogant, self-absorbed, misogynistic prick. Much unlike a character he wrote, as he said it himself, ‘for an entire year’.
That’s right, no judgments here. It took him a whole year to come up with a movie that features a fat lady running being chased down the stairs for the LOLs. A whole year. That’s okay. That’s cool. Writing’s definitely hard work.
In the interview, Sandeep Reddy was asked what he thought of the critics' backlash over his movie and its objectification of women. As a reference was a scene in the film in which the main character literally walks up to a woman and calls her ‘his property’. His reaction was that a large number of people who find it problematic haven’t really experienced ‘true love’ before.
That’s correct, ‘true love’. The same medicine your homeopathy doctor prescribes you. You don’t go around calling women ‘meri bandi’ (my woman) in front of a college campus, because you aren’t truly in love with them. That’s not arrogance, that’s confidence.
Similarly, when Sandeep Reddy went onto describe critics as ‘parasites’ to the cinema (forgetting at one point the name of a certain fat critic with salt and pepper hair, only to quote exact lines from his review of the film a few minutes later) he’s definitely not self-absorbed guys. He’s in now way, unwilling to look at his own flaws. He’s just well-researched, that’s all.
And, Sandeep Reddy is in no way misogynistic. I mean do you guys even know what being misogynistic is?
As defined by Sir Oxford, may he Rest in Peace, it is a man who hates women. So when asked whether the physical violence of a man hitting a woman in the film was justified, his answer was that physical violence is justified, when you are, I repeat this again, in ‘true love’. (Which also explains how much you loved me Balwinder sir and I wish, at that time, I could’ve loved you back the same way).
This, in no way, makes him misogynistic. It just makes him a ‘true lover’.
Also, Sandeep Reddy in no way hates women. When asked in the interview what he thought of the female protagonist in the film? He said and I quote that “She doesn’t speak much” and “I wish there were more women like her.”
Now, this doesn’t mean Sandeep Reddy hates all women. He just hates the more talkative ones. It's like asking God for a Software Update. “Oh, I love this feature in modern WOMEN 2019 that choose their partners and speak their minds. I just wish in the next update of WOMEN 2020, they stick to one partner and don’t speak their mind very often.”
That doesn’t make him a misogynist. That just makes him, how should we put it, a woman aficionado.
And lastly, he is no way a prick. A prick has the capability of giving pleasurable experiences through its actions.
I’m kiddddddding!
And look, I also know that as I write this article, the film has grossed more than 200 crores nationwide and has garnered a cult following among a set frustrated, adolescent youth of the country (most of them being male). The joke is on all of us as the film is well on its way to be the biggest film this year and gross more than 300 crores.
So whether we deny or not, just like the life of Michael Jackson, Sandeep Reddy’s film has touched many. (WHY ARE YOU GUYS SMILING? THERE WAS NO PUN INTENDED HERE!)
It could be said, however, that the cultural impact this has on a community like India, which is so easily influenced by films and pop culture, is going to be massive.
To outright deny the moral impact of your actions on other people is a little problematic. And although this doesn’t deny you from making the films you wish to make, at least an interview that clarified where a creator stands on his/her own moral ground seemed helpful.
But well, this is just a random article on a multiverse called the internet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go smoke cigarettes and binge drink alcohol. I think I’ve enough interviews for now.
Peace.
