Actor Akshay Oberoi has defended the 2023 blockbuster, Animal. Besides Ranbir Kapoor, the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial also stars Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri. Akshay, who was seen in the recent release Fighter, said in an interview with India Today that he loved Animal. He also praised Bobby and Ranbir’s performance in the film that has been slammed for making heroes out of misogynistic, violent men. Also read: Triptii Dimri breaks silence on controversy around Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘lick my shoe’ line in Animal
Akshay’s reaction to Animal getting slammed
“I loved Animal. I think people have their opinions about it. But for me, a character is a character. I loved the film. I loved Bobby sir, I loved Ranbir Kapoor in it. The music was outstanding. Some of those action set pieces were larger-than-life. People have loved Scarface, I don’t understand. I mean this is like on that level for me,” Akshay Oberoi said.
Stating that he gets why some people, including celebs such as Kangana Ranaut, called out Animal, the actor defended the film, saying, “I am sure I can understand people’s issues with it. But the same thing what people say about Fighter and jingoism, I mean a moment is a moment and that’s subjective. It’s up to the person to decide what they feel about it. Also, look at the box office numbers, it’s earth-shattering. So, I just love that movie.”
Animal’s criticism
One of last year’s biggest blockbusters, Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal has grossed more than ₹900 crore worldwide. While it did set the cash registers ringing, Animal was slammed by many for glorifying toxic masculinity. Recently, actor Taapsee Pannu weighed in on the film’s success and spoke about why she would never have done such a movie.
Earlier, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar spoke about the film, and called its success ‘dangerous’. Animal revolves around a troubled father-son relationship between Anil’s Balbir Singh and Ranbir’s Ranvijay Singh aka Vijay. The film stars Rashmika opposite Ranbir and Bobby Deol is the prime antagonist.