New Delhi: Sharmila Tagore is not a big fan of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’, which was one of the biggest hits of 2023 despite being labelled as misogynistic and brutally violent by a section of viewers.
However, the veteran actor acknowledges that the film had a lot of impact after its release. In a new interview on the YouTube channel Dil Se Kapil Sibal, she shared how the film had violence but beyond it, there was also misogyny. She went on to say that one must not ignore the success of the film but try to ‘engage’ with it instead to see why it connected with the audience in the first place.
During the conversation, Sharmila brought up the film’s name and said, “There was a film called Animal recently… beyond violence, there was misogyny. But there were a lot of women in the audience who said, ‘I want somebody to love me like that.’ Any film that runs a lot, you cannot really rubbish it. You have to engage with it, try and understand it that what exactly is happening here,” Hindustan Times reported.
She then talked about how a film like Laapata Ladies overtook the viewership of Animal once both were on the same platform. Sharmila added, “Laapataa Ladies did well even theatrically as it was within the budget, whereas Animal spent a lot of money and made a huge amount of money also. There is that stark difference (in budgets) and it will continue. I don’t see it in the near future that it is going to change… So, the smaller films will also get their money back but not in the quantity that say a Ranbir Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh will bring.”
Notably, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal was one of the biggest hits of last year. The film has been in the debate ever since its release. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor and Triptii Dimri in the lead. Amid mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the film was among the highest-earning films of 2023 and grossed more than Rs 900 crore worldwide.
