Javed Akhtar Calls 12-15 People Who Made ‘Animal’ “Perverts”, Emphasizes On Bigger Problem Within Audience
Javed Akhtar recently clarified his comments on Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’, blaming the audience for making the film a massive box office hit.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’, starring Ranbir Kapoor, might have turned out to be a huge blockbuster but one cannot deny the polarising reactions to the film. The movie, which also featured Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol, released in cinemas in December 2023 but it is still being criticised for glorifying toxic masculinity, misogyny and graphic violence. Now, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar has clarified his previous comments, where he called out ‘Animal’ and the makers.
In an interview with Mojo Story, Javed Akhtar clarified that he was speaking about the audience, not so much the film.
Javed Akhtar said, “I did not opine on Animal, I opined on the audience. Honestly! I believe if 10-12-15 people have made a film with wrong values… if 10-12 people produce a song which is vulgar, crude, obscene… that's not the problem. If 15 out of 140 crore people are perverts or have wrong values, it's okay, doesn't matter. When that thing goes out in the market and becomes a superhit, that's the problem.”
When asked about why he thinks ‘Animal’ turned out to be such a huge success, Javed Akhtar said, “I think the basic title tells you why. The title is self-explanatory.”
Earlier this year, Javed Akhtar attended an event and said that he hasn't seen ‘Animal’, but he has heard about the problematic scene in which the male protagonist (Ranbir) asks his love interest (Triptii Dimri) to lick his shoe.
Speaking about 'Animal', the film did a business of more than Rs 500 crore in India. However, it was slammed for its depiction of misogyny, toxic masculinity, and graphic violence.
Earlier, Javed Akhtar's son Farhan Akhtar had said that he cannot recommend other people to watch ‘Animal’.
In an interview with Faye D'Souza, Farhan Akhtar said, “The film didn’t do much for me. Is it something that I would recommend somebody to watch, I guess not.”
When asked what would he do if given an opportunity to produce ‘Animal’, he replied, “No, I won’t. it doesn’t resonate with me. For me, I feel that the character is problematic.”
Earlier, Ranbir Kapoor had also addressed the criticism that 'Animal' had received during its run.
In an interview with entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, he said, “Social media played havoc. They need something to talk about, so they really went to town claiming it was a misogynistic film. What happens is that the hard work that you put in… I know the director had made Kabir Singh, which also faced the same thing, the hard work gets diminished. Because it gets this tag, which isn’t true, the perception stayed with this film.”
“So, the general public will speak very fondly about the film, but there are many people I meet, who tell me, ‘You shouldn’t have done this film, we are so disappointed in you’. And a lot of people from the film industry (said the same thing). I quietly apologize and say, ‘Sorry I won’t do it next time.’ I don’t really agree with them, but I am in that phase of my life I don’t argue with anyone. If you don’t like my work, I will say I am sorry I will try harder next time,” he added.
