The chatter around Shahid Kapoor starrer Kabir Singh refuses to die down. Just as it seemed that the dust has settled, Shahid has given an explosive interview, in which he has defended his controversial but mega-blockbuster and loved-by-masses film. Well, the conversation around the film is about to heat up one more time. In this Sandeep Reddy Vanga directed film, Shahid plays the role of an arrogant man who becomes an alcoholic and drug-abusing surgeon after a heartbreak. Of course, the picture painted here is not rosy like other Bollywood romances. The movie was slammed by critics and many feminists for glorifying toxic masculinity. Shahid, after 31 days, finally has a response.

In the interview with Bollywood Hungama, Shahid said, "The reason I didn't do an interview is because I felt everyone was very aggressive. And I didn't think it was healthy. I didn't want to come out attacking anybody. I didn't want to come out defending a film. I wanted to speak about a film like a film should be spoken about."

He added, "It's interesting to see people, who make weekend conversation over it, seem to feel so much more of a sense of ownership on the film than those people who actually spent a year making it,"

Talking about the scene where the protagonist, Kabir, slaps his girlfriend, Preeti, played by the lovely Kiara Advani, Shahid had a question in return for the critics. He said, "If Kabir hadn't slapped Preeti (Kiara Advani's character), would everything else that he did be okay? Because he slapped the girl, you feel that is unacceptable and that Kabir Singh is an unacceptable character. We want you to feel this is unacceptable, his behaviour has gone beyond control," Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga Starts a Whole New Heated Debate with His Latest Interview - Read Tweets.

Kabir Singh has amassed more than Rs 270 crores, despite being a non-holiday release and having an A certificate. Shahid said, "None of the films in the top-10 category are non-holiday releases, I think. None of them are adult films. That is just what this film has done. That is just how much love this film has gotten,"

Shahid also said, "My fans have always been with me. The most amazing film about this film was that I didn't need to promote the film after it released. I didn't need to defend the film from the things that were being said about it. People who saw the film were doing everything for me. I felt like I was sitting at home and there is an army out there which is doing everything on its own,"

"That just goes to show that people connected with the product. And they were very very strong about how they felt. Maybe the way Kabir loves Preeti, is the way people love this film. Something about the film has made that connect with people," he added.

In the same interview, Shahid also said that his wife Mira Rajput was the first one to encourage her to take up this film. He added that she has been very supportive. He also took a dig at critics and said that no reviewer talked about the technical aspects of the movie, like music, acting, and cinematography. He said that critics could have spent half the review bashing the film if they wanted but the other half should have been about the positive aspects of the movie.

Kabir Singh is the remake of the Telugu film, Arjun Reddy. The regional-film was also directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. It starred Vijay Deverakonda as the titular character.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2019 10:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).