Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, released in December last year, turned out to be a massive blockbuster at the box office despite opening to polarising response. Now, actor Ranbir Kapoor has talked about the criticism for the first time, saying social media played havoc. Also read: Sharmila Tagore slams Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal for misogyny, admits one simply cannot ‘rubbish it’
Now, during his appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF, Ranbir said that several members of the Indian film industry also expressed their disappointment to him.
The film ignited a fierce debate upon its release, with critics and audiences divided over its portrayal of masculinity and violence.
Ranbir’s response
When the host claimed that films shouldn’t be a place from which society derives their sense of morality, and looked only for entertainment, Ranbir shared that it was the intention behind Animal, but it was misconstrued.
“Social media played havoc. They needed something to talk about, so they really went to town claiming it was a misogynistic film. What happens is that the hard work that you put in… I know the director had made Kabir Singh, which also faced the same thing, the hard work gets diminished. Because it gets this tag, which isn’t true, the perception stayed with this film. So, the general public will speak very fondly about the film, but there are many people I meet, who tell me, ‘You shouldn’t have done this film, we are so disappointed in you’. And a lot of people from the film industry (said the same thing). I quietly apologise and say, ‘Sorry I won’t do it next time.’ I don’t really agree with them, but I am in that phase of my life I don’t argue with anyone. If you don’t like my work, I will say I am sorry I will try harder next time,” he said.
The actor confessed that he agreed to do Animal to break free from his “good boy” image on screen.
“I had always been following a career path where I was doing good roles, trying to give good social messages, play the ‘good boy’ basically, the coming-of-age romantic image that I had. So, I found this very bold, adult-rated. I was scared that maybe the audience will not accept me. When the film released, even though it did amazing numbers and we got a lot of love, there is a big audience which found the film misogynist and wrong, in some way,” he added.
He was asked if he would do the film all over again, and Ranbir said he would. Ranbir revealed that he was hitting a saturation point in his career, and feels Animal was the correct film at the right time to take it a notch higher.
About the film
Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal is still a topic of discussion among fans and many in the industry, even months after its release. The Ranbir Kapoor-starrer went on to become a blockbuster, even after it was slammed for promoting male toxicity.
The film revolves around a troubled father-son relationship. It has Ranbir Kapoor in the role of Rannvijay Singh, who goes on to take revenge after there’s an assassination attempt on his father. The film also stars Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri and Anil Kapoor in pivotal roles. A sequel to the film, Animal Park, is also in the works.
