Pic Courtesy/IMDB
'Animal' helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna in pivotal roles, has ignited a powerful debate within the masses about the'misoginistic' and 'toxic' nature of the movie.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap discussed misogyny and the nature of demeaning and violent content directed at women during the recent Kolkata International Film Festival. Anurag cited Ranbir Kapoor's recent film 'Animal' as an example. The filmmaker defended the film, claiming that, despite the response, it has inevitably prompted more conversations about misogyny than any other film ever has.
Talking to OTTPlay, Anurag Kashyap said, "You cannot force responsibility on anyone. People take responsibility for themselves, or they don't. How many people went and watched a film that you considered to be feminist? Only a handful of people watch them and underline if it was a real feminist film or a pseudo-feminist film. A film like Animal has galvanised more feminists in this country than any other feminist film. It has created more discussion around misogyny than any other film. So it is doing something good."
The filmmaker went on to say that the audience should not be scared of provocative cinema: "You need a provocateur in a society for people to understand. More people were taught feminism because of Animal and the discussions around it. Why are you scared of a provocateur? We are educated and learned people. Why are we afraid of someone who provokes us? I think being provoked is a good thing. I have always tried to make films to make people uncomfortable, as a filmmaker. When I made Ugly, I wanted people to go back and not sleep that night,"
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Since the release of 'Animal', netizens have taken to social media to vent out their frustrations regarding the movie. In particular, a scene where Ranvijay (Ranbir Kapoor) asks Zoya (Tripti Dimri) to lick his boot to show her respect and love is being widely criticised.
However, many industry members have showered praise on the film. Allu Arjun, Arshad Warsi, SS Rajamouli's son, S.S. Kathikeya, Nani, and more have all spoken in favour of the movie.
In a conversation with PTI, Bobby Deol, who plays the role of the antagonist, said, "There's good and evil in every human being, and what gets the evil out of you is some situation. As an actor, you think of yourself as a character. 'I'm doing nothing wrong; I'm right in whatever I do'. You forget how to judge what is right and wrong."
'Animal' faced a clash with Vicky Kaushal's biographical drama 'Sam Bahadur'. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the real-life story of Sam Manekshaw also stars Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh.
Helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, 'Animal' also stars Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandana, Shakti Kapoor, and Triptii Dimri. It depicts a story about a father-son relationship, played by Anil and Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir's character is protective and obsessive about his father's love, and he is seen threatening everybody who comes in the way of his love for his father. The 3-hour, 21-minute-long film was released in five languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.
