‘Animal,’ which emerged as the biggest blockbuster of the past year, is still being talked about. After many celebrities have spoken up about the film or criticized the director Sandeep Reddy Vanga for the way he’s portrayed the characters in the film, renowned producer-filmmaker Karan Johar has now expressed his opinions regarding the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer.
The movie faced criticism for allegedly endorsing toxic masculinity, and extreme misogyny and violence. Despite the ongoing debate, Johar, taking the stage at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024, shared his honest views on the film, and stated that he enjoyed watching the film from a filmmaker’s perspective.
“There’s been a lot of debate on ‘Animal.’ People have expressed opinions, stood for it or against it—the filmmaker himself has been very vocal about his feelings. Personally, truly honestly, I saw it as a character film based on a character who was deeply dysfunctional, inherently violent, who had many emotional issues—and I loved the treatment,” he stated.
Shedding light on what he loved about the film, the filmmaker went on to say, “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.”
The filmmaker further elaborated that the movie had a significant impact as it elicited various reactions from people. “There are people who have called me and expressed their opinions—and agreed or disagreed with me. I have to be honest about my emotion attached to a film I’ve seen, and if it comes with criticism or flak, then I have to accept it with open arms. And if it comes with an embrace, I have to accept that as well,” he said.
As for ‘Animal,’ alongside Kapoor, it starred Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri in pivotal roles. It has ruled box office figures, earning Rs 900 crores. The film, which hit theatres in December 2023, is now available to stream on Netflix.
