'Animal': Ranbir Kapoor Breaks Silence On Toxic Masculinity Criticism, Gives Update On Sequel

The critically-acclaimed film 'Animal,' directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, caused a significant buzz upon its theatrical release on December 1, 2023. With its recent release on Netflix on January 26, the movie is once again being talked about on social media. Now, for its OTT promotions, in a recent conversation with Anubhav Singh Bassi, the cast of the film -- Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Anil Kapoor -- discussed about the film's various aspects and gave an update on its sequel. 

Though the film became one of the highest-grossing films of 2023, it has also been accused of glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. Ranbir Kapoor, who plays the main role, shared his two cents on this ongoing debate among netizens regarding this and said, "There is a very healthy conversation that has started about toxic masculinity, which is a great thing because cinema, at least, it starts a conversation. If something is wrong, if you don't show that it is wrong, and unless conversation starts in the society, we will never realise it." 

He added, "So the roles we are playing, those are characters. It is very important that as actors, we have empathy for them because we need to play it. But as an audience, you decide what's wrong. You can make a film on the wrong person and it should be made. Because if you don't make a film on them, society will never improve." 

Supporting his co-star's opinion, Bobby Deol, who plays the antagonist, said storytelling mirrors the society, and that there are various things people just don't want to talk about. "But we are actors and we're just getting an opportunity to play different characters. That's the fun of being an actor," he exclaimed.

During the same conversation, when asked if there's any development on 'Animal Park,' the sequel to 'Animal,' which fans are quite excited about, Ranbir said that director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has a couple of scenes ready which he has already narrated to him. Though nothing else about the sequel has been revealed, Ranbir said that because of the success 'Animal' has garnered, Vanga "has the confidence and courage to go even darker, deeper and more complex. He can do anything."

'Animal' can be streamed only on Netflix.