Ranbir Kapoor finally speaks on Animal’s backlash

The Ranbir Kapoor-starrer film Animal created massive records at the box office but also earned criticism for promoting male toxicity.

The film Animal became one of the highest-grossing films of last year. It starred Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Triptii Dimri, and others and was directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. It went on to become one of the most successful films of 2023; however, it also earned massive criticism from audiences, film critics, and people from the film fraternity for promoting male toxicity. Ranbir Kapoor finally commented on Animal’s backlash during his appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF.

Ranbir Kapoor breaks his silence on Animal’s backlash.

While speaking to Nikhil Kamath on his podcast People by WTF, Ranbir Kapoor said many from the Indian film fraternity expressed disappointment in him choosing to do a film like Animal. The film, right since the time it was released in December last year, has created a stir and divided people over its portrayal of masculinity and violence.

Ranbir Kapoor’s response to Animal’s criticism?

The podcast host claimed that films shouldn’t be a place from which society derives its sense of morality and should only be viewed for entertainment. Ranbir Kapoor shared that it was the intention behind Animal, but it was misconstrued. He said, “Social media played havoc. They needed 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 many people I meet 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,”

Ranbir confessed that he did Animal for breaking free from his “good boy” image on-screen. When asked if he would do the film all over again, Ranbir said he would. He said he was hitting a saturation point in his career, and Animal was the correct film to take it a notch higher.