Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, which was vehemently slammed by a large section of the audience for its portrayal of violence and toxic masculinity, once again became a talking point as the lead actor addressed the issue at the ongoing 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. When asked about responsible storytelling, Ranbir Kapoor said, “I completely agree with your opinion. As actors, this is our responsibility to bring movies that make a positive impact on society.” At the same time, Ranbir emphasized the importance of experimenting with different genres and exercising creative freedom. “As actors, it’s important for me to dabble in different genres and characters, and play varied roles,” said the actor.
Celebrities like Javed Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma also expressed their thoughts on the film and they didn’t approve of the content of the film. However, filmmakers like Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap applauded the film for its style of making without delving much into the moral fabric of the film. At the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024, Karan Johar said, “I didn’t go deep into the moral communication of the film – I was so swept by the narrative and the way the filmmaker told the story of it through sound design, screenplay, dialogue, character development, that as a filmmaker, I loved it.”
Anurag Kashyap, who earlier shared an appreciation post for Sandeep Reddy Vanga on his social media, defended his liking for the film on daughter Aaliyah Kashyap’s podcast show Young, Dumb & Anxious. He said on the show, “This man (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) is, what you see is what he is. People may like Animal, they may not like Animal, but Animal is a major tectonic shift in the way films will be made. People will realise its impact in 5-10 years from now.”
Despite receiving criticism, Animal minted a whopping amount of money at the box office. Animal also won five Filmfare Awards this year including Ranbir Kapoor’s trophy in the Best Actor (Popular) category.