'12th Fail' Fame Vikas Divyakirti Slams Ranbir Kapoor's 'Animal' For Glorifying Toxic Masculinity

Actor Ranbir Kapoor starrer 'Animal' stirred massive controversy on social media after its release. It got polarising reviews from common men and celebs. While some slammed the film, others praised the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial. 'Animal' was called out for glorifying toxic masculinity, too much violence and misogyny against women. It has been four months since its release, still, the debate is going on. Now, educator and civil servant Vikas Divyakirti, who played himself in Vikrant Massey starrer '12th Fail', shared his opinion on the film. 

Vikas recently appeared on Neelesh Misra’s Slow Interview series, where he called 'Animal' “fuhad and badtameez” film, and added, “A film like Animal takes our society back by 10 years. A film like this should not be made. You earned money. You showed that your hero behaves like an animal. There should be some social value, or are people working only for financial value?''

He also reacted to the controversial scene in 'Animal' where Ranbir’s character, Vijay, asks Triptii Dimri’s character Zoya to lick his shoe to prove her love for him. He said, “After watching the film, what if some boys who are of a feudal mindset and are not that mature want to test their girlfriend’s love by asking them to lick their shoe, what then? Itni fuhad aur badtameez film hum bana rahein hai then it is very sad (It is sad when we make such careless and mean-spirited films) but both kind of forces are always there in the world".

Despite controversy and facing criticism, 'Animal' broke several records at the box office. It went on to earn Rs 900 crore at the global box office. The film also bagged several awards at various awards functions. It also starred Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Anil Kapoor in key roles.