Sharmila Tagore notes Animal’s ‘violence and misogyny’, but says can’t ‘rubbish’ its success: ‘Many women wanted a lover like that’

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore said if a film like Animal has a good run at the box office, it calls for the need to 'understand' what is happening rather than a blanket dismissal.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | June 26, 2024 11:08 AM IST

4 min read

Sharmila Tagore talks about Animal. (Photo: IMDb, Karan Johar/Instagram)

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore says the success of last year’s polarising Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal can’t be “rubbished” but calls for a deeper examination as to why the audience embraced the movie, despite a section loudly dubbing it as a violent, misogynistic drama.

Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Animal released on December 1 and quickly became one of the most talked about films of recent times, with a section slamming the film for its violence and treatment of women. While the criticism kept growing, there was little to no impact on its box office, as it made a whopping Rs 900 cr at the global box office and emerged as one of the biggest hits of Hindi cinema.

Also Read | Anurag Kashyap says people criticised Animal because ‘everybody’s favourite Ranbir Kapoor’ did it: ‘Rather than being politically correct…’

In an interview with Kapil Sibal on his YouTube channel Dil Se Kapil Sibal, Sharmila Tagore said, “There was a film called Animal”, to which Sibal interrupted and said, “Terrible, terrible film, full of violence.”

Sharmila added, “Beyond violence, there was misogyny. But there were a lot of women in the audience who said I want somebody to love me like that. Any film that runs a lot, you cannot rubbish it. You have to engage with it, try and understand it that what exactly is happening here.”

Animal drew sharp criticism from several thinkers and movie veterans, including Javed Akhtar, Swanand Kirkire, Kiran Rao and Vanga’s previous collaborator Adil Hussain among others.

Also Read | Javed Akhtar responds to Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s taunts, is ‘flattered’ Animal director couldn’t find a single objectionable thing in his career

When Kapil Sibal said that Laapataa Ladies has broken Animal’s record, Sharmila Tagore gently corrected him and said, “Only on the OTT, not in the theatres.” The veteran said if a film’s “budget is right”, one can make a good movie and it will run, like Laapataa Ladies.

“It did well even theatrically as it was within the budget. Whereas Animal spent a lot of money and made a huge amount of money also and other films like that. There is that stark difference (in budgets) and it will continue. I don’t see it in the near future that it is going to change… So, the smaller films will also get their money back but not in the quantity that say a Ranbir Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh will bring,” she added.

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Even as Animal faced criticism, the film also received support from several industry voices, most notably filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who called Vanga a “misunderstood” filmmaker.

“What I liked most about Animal was that a stubborn filmmaker went ahead and made an adult film of 3 hours and 25 minutes. He fought and got it released in cinemas. It takes me straight back to Bombay Velvet. It was almost 3 hours long and I couldn’t fight for it, I was on the back foot. I had to cut it and raid it myself. I learnt that being ziddi (stubborn) sometimes as a filmmaker is not a bad thing. If you see the nuances there can be a lot of things, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everything about Animal, I endorse or condone. No. If I have issues I’ll discuss it with the filmmaker,” he had said in an interview with Janice Sequeira.

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