Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal is facing extreme criticism for showing extreme violence and promoting toxic masculinity. The debate has now reached the parliament.
Recently Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan expressed concern about the film and lambasted the makers for its “justification of violence and misogyny”.
But all this has translated into huge box office returns as Animal is all set to become another 500-crore film at the Indian box office after Pathaan, Gadar 2, and Jawan.
Bollywood makers are stunned to see such a film that defies most of the basic rules of filmmaking doing such unimaginable numbers at the box office. The fraternity is dumbfounded to see the audience getting an extreme kick seeing Ranbir Kapoor’s antics on the big screen.
It is now expected that a few of the Bollywood makers will attempt such kind of cinema in the coming days.
But what people must realize is that such content comes naturally to Vanga. It’s his trademark and his brand of cinema. One can love or hate his work, but no one can deny that whatever he does comes with a conviction that other filmmakers lack especially to make a film like Animal.
Atlee’s Jawan was an entertaining film but it didn’t break any barriers. Animal is a completely flawed film and the second half was a crashing bore. But it definitely broke many myths and barriers and normalized many new things in mainstream cinema.
Bollywood can try to cash in on this new kind of cinema but it might be impossible to emulate or repeat the same impact.
