Arjun Reddy verdict: a good movie with a very flawed hero

We've reached the end of Arjun Reddy, and our verdict is simple: "That was a good movie." It ran three hours but didn't feel like it. When the intermission came, we couldn't believe it was intermission time already.

Why Arjun Reddy's love story felt more believable than Kabir Singh's

Arjun Reddy came out in 2017, and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga made the Hindi version, Kabir Singh, after it in 2019. Kabir Singh, seen long ago, had a much different tone, and the feeling was that in this version, the relationship between Preethi and Arjun was a lot more believable and pure, and the love was so palpable here. The film focuses on Arjun and is clearly his story, but Preethi still felt present even when she wasn't on screen. Kabir Singh, by comparison, was more about him. Vijay did a very good job.

Four years of love, then rock bottom in a few months

It felt like forever to us, but realistically only a few months pass after the breakup, and anyone who has been in a relationship knows these things take a long time to heal. The breakup wasn't even chosen by them, which makes it worse. The big argument where Arjun says "You got 6 hours" was an amazing scene. He tries to kill time, hears nothing, turns to morphine and drinking, and didn't even know at the time that she had come there.

Hiding Preethi's side was a smart choice

With a lot of Indian films watched by now, it's familiar for the second half to leave much of the first half behind, and her return wasn't expected at all. We didn't see the parallels coming: they were going through the same thing, but we saw none of her side, which seemed a very smart way to do it. Grandma was right that it all worked out, and her insight, including the story of the doll he refused to replace, is so important to the story. It's a weird comparison, but it's kind of like watching something like Forrest Gump, an epic journey, even though only a few years pass. Story, plot and act structure were all so well done. "Pacing was unreal."

Arjun is self-involved, but the film shows him owning his mistakes

There was an issue with his narcissistic, self-involved behavior: he couldn't see the love and support around him from Shiva, Kamal and his brother, even if he was hurt, healing and an addict. When friends shared good news, he didn't care. "That's not a good person." "It's an immature person. It's problematic." His friend Shiva was ride or die, acting as caregiver, brother, mother and father for him.

Yet that is also one of the things to like about this movie. "There's no real binary characters where they're all good or they're all bad." He's very flawed, but that's real life, and he takes responsibility for what happened at the hospital. Even Preethi and Arjun had toxic moments, but they loved each other deeply, and it grew organically, which is why we could root for them throughout.

Which version of this story do you prefer, Arjun Reddy or Kabir Singh?