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Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar is amused at filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s retaliation towards the criticism of his film Animal. Javed said sarcastically that Sandeep decided to drag his son Farhan Akhtar’s work into the conversation because he couldn’t find anything to condemn in Javed’s 53-year-long career.
When Javed criticised the portrayal of women in Sandeep’s blockbuster film Animal, the filmmaker tried to get back by highlighting how Javed’s son, actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, was producing shows like Mirzapur, which are known to feature coarse language and violence.
During an interview with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story, Javed said, “When he responded to me, I was honoured. In 53 years of my career, he could not find one film, one script, one scene, one dialogue, one song. So he had to go to my son’s office and find a TV serial, which is neither acted, directed, or written by Farhan. His company has produced it. Nowadays, these big companies like Excel are producing a lot of things. So one of them is this. He mentioned that. It flattered me to no end. 53 years ke career mein tum kuchh bhi nahi nikaal paye (You couldn’t find anything sexist in 53 years of my career)? What a shame.”
The lyricist also said that he doesn’t have any problem with the film Animal but is concerned about how popular it was with audiences. “I was not criticising the filmmaker at all. I think in a democratic society, he has the right to make one Animal, and many Animals. I was concerned about the audience, not about the filmmaker. He has the right to make any film,” said Javed. The veteran had said that the success of films like Animal is ‘dangerous’. The film’s official Twitter account had responded by calling Javed’s art ‘a big false’.
Earlier, in an interview with Siddharth Kanan, Sandeep had said in response to Javed’s criticism of Animal, “Why didn’t he tell the same thing to Farhan Akhtar when he was producing Mirzapur? Duniya bhar ke gaali Mirzapur ek show mai hai (Mirzapur has an abundance of explicit language), and I haven’t watched the whole show. When the show was translated into Telugu, if you watch that, then you will feel like puking. Why is he not checking his son’s work?”
In the same interview, he’d denied tweeting out against Javed via the official Animal account. “There are many enthusiasts in our team who handle Twitter. But I knew that those tweets went out,” he said. Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor, grossed over Rs 900 crore worldwide despite the controversies.
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