Punjabi star Gippy Grewal on depiction of Sikh community in Ranbir Kapoor's 'Animal': 'The film did...'

Ever since the film was released, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal has courted a lot of controversy for a range of topics including its misogynistic themes, glorification of toxic masculinity, and portrayal of gender dynamics.

Amid all of these, a section of the audience was also seen objecting to the portrayal of the Sikh community in the film. Some also asserted that the makers have deeply hurt Sikh sentiments with the portrayal of certain scenes, thus demanding action. While it has been more than two months since the film’s release, it seems like the criticism still manages to come around.

In the wake of this, Punjabi stars Gippy Grewal and Sargun Mehta were recently seen praising the film and also appreciating the makers’ way of using the Arjun Velly song.

In a conversation with DNA, Gippy noted the industry has started looking at Punjabis quite differently and in a better way. “ Animal did good business in Punjab because people really liked the film. It has changed a lot. Earlier, people heard about Punjab, but never saw them. This is why, whenever there were films on Sikh characters, they were made out of imagination. We used to see and say ‘How is this Punjab? Who are these people?’ But now there is a big and good change in the industry.”

Sargun Mehta on portrayal of Sikhs in Animal

On the other, actress Sargun Mehta also spoke about the portrayal of Punjabis in the film. “Sandeep Reddy Vanga has been so particular about everything. Even in the last shot before Aziz kills one of the Sikh cousins, he looks straight into Aziz’s eyes without any fear and accepts his fate like a lion. This shows that he kept the valour of Punjabis intact throughout the film, and Arjan Vailey described it very very well,” Shargun said further emphasising that Bollywood has started recognising Punjabis.

About Animal

Featuring actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles, Animal revolves around the story of a man ‘Ranvijay Singh’, who returns from the US to avenge the attack on his father and leaves no stone unturned to track the enemies.