At the recent Kolkata International Film Festival, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap engaged in a discussion about misogyny and disrespectful content towards women. Citing the example of Ranbir Kapoor's recently released film Animal, the filmmaker said that despite the backlash the movie is getting, it has also started a more impactful conversation around misogyny than any other film could. In a conversation with OTTPlay, Anurag said, "You cannot force responsibility on anyone. People take responsibility for themselves or they don’t. How many people went and watched a film that you considered to be feminist? Only a handful of people watch them and underline if it was a real feminist film or a pseudo-feminist film. A film like Animal has galvanised more feminists in this country than any other feminist film. It has created more discussion around misogyny than any other film. So it is doing something good.” The filmmaker said that audiences should not be afraid of provocative cinema. "You need a provocateur in a society for people to understand. More people were taught feminism because of Animal and the discussions around it. Why are you scared of a provocateur? We are educated and learned people. Why are we afraid of someone who provokes us? I think being provoked is a good thing. I have always tried to make films to make people uncomfortable, as a filmmaker. When I made Ugly, I wanted people to go back and not sleep that night," he said. Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, has been criticised by a section of the audience for its portrayal of misogyny and toxic masculinity. Some of the film's scenes, such as the one in which Ranbir's character asks a woman to lick his boot, are being sharply criticised. However, the film's box office numbers represent a completely different reality. On its 11th day of release, Animal earned around Rs 13 crore in India, bringing its total domestic collection to Rs 443.27 crore, as per trade website Sacnilk. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Rashmika Mandanna in supporting roles. Animal also stars Triptii Dimri, Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra and Suresh Oberoi.
