Ranbir Kapoor says ‘Animal’ initiated healthy conversation on toxic masculinity: ‘Audience should decide'

Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film ‘Animal’ premiered in theatres in December and is now available for streaming on Netflix. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, the movie revolves around a man grappling with a strained relationship with his father, which ultimately leads him towards darkness and violence.

Following its release, the film faced criticism for its violent and misogynistic elements, raising questions about the director who had earlier helmed ‘Kabir Singh.’

Ranbir Kapoor has now commented that despite the negative reviews, the film ignited a 'constructive' dialogue within society.

In a new video by Netflix, Ranbir was discussing the film and said, ‘There is a very healthy conversation that has started about toxic masculinity also, which is a great thing because cinema, at least, it starts a conversation. If something is wrong, if you don’t show that it is wrong, and unless conversation starts in the society, we will never realise it.’

He continued, ‘So the roles we are playing, those are characters. It is very important that as actors, we have empathy for them because we need to play it. But as an audience, you should decide what’s wrong. You can make a film on the wrong person and it should be made. Because if you don’t make a film on them, society will never improve.’

Bobby supported Ranbir’s opinion and added, ‘Storytelling is the reflection of society. It’s showing you what is happening in the society and there are so many things we don’t want to talk about.’

Earlier, lyricist Javed Akhtar described the success of ‘Animal’ as ‘dangerous.’ At the 9th Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival, he said, ‘The image of a hero should be created with an awareness of what is right and how it should be. Today’s writers need to think, because confusion has increased among them. The reason for this is that society is in confusion. Society does not decide what is right and what is wrong, but it is reflected in cinema. There was a time when the poor were good and the rich were bad. But today, we only have one thought in our head, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati?’ So we can’t make the rich look bad now since we ourselves want to be rich.’

Speaking about ‘Animal’, the veteran screenwriter said, ‘If there’s a film in which a man asks a woman to lick his shoe or if a man says it’s okay to slap a woman… and the film is a super hit, that’s dangerous.’

‘Animal’, which also stars Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, and Triptii Dimri in pivotal roles, minted over Rs 900 crore worldwide.

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