'Animal' writer defends Bobby Deol's Muslim character, says 'Ranbir Kapoor is as big of a demon, and he's a Hindu'

Even three months after its release, Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal continues to invite debate and discussions. At  FICCI Frames, Saurabh Gupta, the writer of the blockbuster, was in a conversation with ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal about the Islamophobia of his film and other debatable scenes.

Dhaliwal spoke about an altercation scene between Ranbir and Rashmika Mandanna in the second half where they talk about women’s periods and said, “Ranbir Kapoor, the hero, can behave like this, can say that, ‘You change four pads a month and do so much drama.’ If the hero can say stuff like that, the man who is watching can very well think it, even if he won’t go ahead and say it. He can say in his jobs, ‘She is doing so much drama, she wants a leave today because she is on her periods.”

Gupta replied, “Using cinema to teach men the importance of sanitary napkins to tell them that smoking is bad, alcohol is bad… There’s so much pressure that cinema has buckled under it. Let’s have some fun.”

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When asked about the Islamophobia of the film, referring to Bobby Deol’s character, the writer said, “For us these things moved logically, from one to two. Now we are realising, ‘Ok so there is a view that…’ But the hero is also just as big of a demon as the villain. And he’s Hindu, but no one said, ‘You have portrayed a Hindu in such a way.”

Ranbir Kapoor on ‘Animal’

_Animal_ , which hit the screens on December 1, was one of the highest earning Hindi films of 2023 despite being criticised for its poor portrayal of women, misogyny and graphic violence.

Directed by  Sandeep Reddy Vanga , the action drama had its digital premiere on Netflix last week. The film also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri.

In a video shared on Netflix India’s YouTube page on Sunday, Ranbir 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.” Actors need to be “empathetic” towards the characters they play, he added.