Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s film Animal has been slammed by a section of people and termed ‘misogynistic’. Many are also criticising Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal character. Now, in an interview with DNA, actor Saloni Batra has opened up about how Ranbir’s character in Animal is problematic. Saloni essayed the role of Ranbir’s sister in the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film. The actor admitted the way Ranbir’s character Rannvijay Singh ‘talks and behaves is toxic’.
Saloni Batra said, “I am a facilitator. It’s my job as an actor to facilitate what an artiste wants to bring the table, who are the creators. Now, they have a vision about this character in this world. This character, the way he talks and behaves, is toxic. But the story is about him and Sandeep sir (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) has chosen to tell his story in his way. As an audience, it is our responsibility to watch and decide what is right and wrong. If that character is firing a gun in the college, it doesn’t mean it’s right.”
She added, “This is a vision of an artiste for entertainment. In this world, the character (Ranbir Kapoor’s Rannvijay Singh aka Vijay) stands true but like I said, it is your responsibility as an audience that you don’t take it home. You came to the theatre and were entertained. And that is the job of cinema. You don’t have to learn from it. You don’t have to take it back home and tell people that it’s ok to say such things to women… As a woman, I would be offended if someone in real life did that to me. But, such people exist. And this story is about one such story. The director is not being a teacher. He is being an entertainer.”
An excerpt from the Hindustan Times’ Animal movie review read, “If filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh bothered you, wait till you watch Animal that presents Ranbir as an epitome of misogyny, and he has no qualms about it. Whether it’s telling his younger sister to drink wine and not whiskey, or taking a jibe at the elder one, a Harvard graduate, for just saying , ‘Chup raho, bas karo (Keep quiet)’ in her marriage; he’s loved, hated and misunderstood all at once. As the entitled, rich spoilt brat, Ranvijay considers himself the man in-charge after his father, so if the ladies of the houses (read sisters) are in any trouble, he would take law in his hand to serve people right.”
Source: HT