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This comes days after Javed Akhtar compared the makers of Animal to ‘perverts’.
Released in theatres in December 2023, Animal revolves around a man and his toxic relationship with his father.
This weekend, Indian Idol Season 15 will be celebrating one year of Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal in the presence of its director, Sandeep Reddy Vanga. During the episode, the filmmaker will be seen taking a sig at Javed Akhtar, who has been open about his criticism of Animal.
It all started after a contestant named Myscmme Bosu praised Vanga’s Animal and revealed that she had watched the movie three times. This led to a debate with fellow contestant Manasi, who disagreed with the film’s portrayal of certain scenes. Myscmee expressed frustration, saying, “I’ve tried to convince her about how Animal makes sense, but she’s not convinced. I want Sandeep Sir to explain it to her.”
Manasi, on the other hand, wasn’t shy in expressing her concerns, particularly in one controversial scene. “There’s this scene with ‘mera joota chato,’ and I personally have a problem with it,” she stated.
Sandeep was visibly taken aback when he said, “You have a problem with the joota chato scene, but no problem with the hero killing 300 people?”. To this, Manasi responded by saying, “Yes, there is a problem.”
The conversation then took a sharp turn when Manasi shared how screenwriter, lyricist and poet, Javed Akhtar had also criticised the movie. “Javed Akhtar said it’s dangerous for society, and I agree with him,” she stated. Sandeep responded, “If Javed Ji wasn’t a lyricist or story writer, I’d take his words seriously.”
“I didn’t express my opinion on Animal, I spoke about the audience that watched it. If 15 people have made a film with the wrong values, if 10-12 people make obscene songs, that’s not the problem. If 15 people are perverts among the 140 crore population, it doesn’t matter. When that thing goes on the market and becomes a superhit, that’s the problem,” he said during a chat with Barkha Dutt.
Released in theatres in December 2023, Animal revolves around a man and his toxic relationship with his father. The film shows Vijay (played by Ranbir) as an anti-hero who would go to any lengths to protect his father, including gunning down 200 people with a machine gun. However, despite his efforts, he struggles to get a seal of approval from his emotionally unavailable father (played by Anil Kapoor).
Animal also made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Despite being a box office hit, Animal was called toxic and misogynistic by many. The film earned over Rs 900 crores.
