In an interview with The Indian Express, Javed Akhtar discussed how the “angry young man” character, once famously portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, has faded from cinema.He explained that Amitabh’s roles had a deep sense of hurt behind the anger, making the character more relatable.
However, he noted that when the focus shifted solely to anger without the underlying pain, the appeal of such characters diminished. Akhtar added that the absence of great characters today has contributed to a lack of great stars.
When asked if this meant Ranbir Kapoor would never reach Amitabh Bachchan’s level of stardom because of his role in Animal, Akhtar responded with a smile, “No, no. I may write a film for him.”
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In contrast, Farhan Akhtar recently shared his views on Animal. He described Ranbir Kapoor’s character as “problematic” and mentioned that he wouldn’t recommend the film to others. In a conversation with journalist Faye D’Souza, Farhan expressed that Animal didn’t resonate with him and that the character didn’t appeal to his taste.
Despite mixed reactions, Animal became an all-time blockbuster, earning Rs 900 crore worldwide. The sequel, Animal Park, will feature Ranbir Kapoor in a double role and includes stars like Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Triptii Dimri. Ranbir is currently busy shooting for Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming epic Ramayana alongside Sai Pallavi.