Nimrat Kaur says she liked Animal but was scared to talk about it; Sobhita Dhulipala defends Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Nimrat Kaur has opened up about Animal and admitted that she liked the Ranbir Kapoor film in parts. In a recent roundtable with Bollywood Hungama, Sobhita Dhulipala also shared her take on the hate filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga has been getting from a section of the audience for the toxic storyline and characters of the Ranbir, Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol-starrer.

Nimrat Kaur on the fuss around Animal

When asked if the box office success of Animal was ‘disturbing’, Nimrat Kaur said, “I watched the film. I was very curious. I wanted to watch it out of curiosity over what is this fuss about. The deal is that I may not have gone for it (Animal) because it is an effort sometimes to make time for a three-and-a-half-hour-long film. So I went and I watched it out of curiosity that why are we discussing it in every coffee shop, every party… I find this culture of anxiety about not liking or liking something a lot of pressure. It’s okay to not like something and it’s also okay to hate or like or dislike or like parts of it.”

She added, “Did I hate it (Animal) all? I did not. Did I enjoy set pieces, which were highly charged with background score and action sequences, which call to my Jatt blood (yes). I’ll be honest, when there were those Range Rovers driving into the Punjab da pind (village) and all, I was like ‘Yes brothers. Let’s go for it, I don’t know what you’re fighting for, but I’m with you’… I was scared about what do I write, if I should write, should I not write (about Animal). I decided to keep quiet because you never know how it is interpreted. So I was also anxious about it. I feel it is okay to enjoy something in bits. It is a separate matter as an actor if I would make that choice (to be a part of such a movie).”

Sobhita wants to know what inspires Sandeep

Sobhita Dhulipala chimed in and said that on the one hand people say that all storytellers, all filmmakers, every story they tell is personal. However, the minute someone ‘feels very personal and puts their value system into a film’, people start criticising them. She said, ‘you are like embossing your opinion on film’ and putting it out in public, but you are also expected to be ‘correct’. She added she was ‘very interested to know what inspires’ Sandeep Reddy Vanga and what ‘moves him’.

Sandeep recently defended his films’ characters, including Animal’s Rannvijay Singh, amid accusations of misogyny. Speaking to Galatta Plus in a recent interview, he dismissed the criticism that has come his way for the film in general.

Animal is a story about a toxic father-son relationship, played by Anil Kapoor (Balbir Singh) and Ranbir Kapoor (Ranvijay). Rashmika plays his girlfriend and then wife, Gitanjali. The film also features Bobby Deol, Triptii Dimri, Suresh Oberoi, Shakti Kapoor and Prem Chopra. The film grossed more than ₹850 crore worldwide after its December 1 release.