Karan Johar Says People Told Him “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” Is “Vaccination” For Film Like ‘Animal’
Karan Johar said people told him that his film ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ was like a “vaccination” for a movie like ‘Animal’.
‘Animal’, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, is one of the most polarising films of 2023. The 2023 Hindi movie, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, Triptii Dimri and Shakti Kapoor, grossed more than Rs 500 crore in India, despite being bashed for its portrayal of toxic masculinity and misogyny. Director Karan Johar has now showered high praise on the film.
‘The Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ director, who was present at the Mega Pan India Roundtable 2023 organised by Galatta Plus, said that people told him that his last directorial venture ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ was like a “vaccination” for a film like ‘Animal’.
For the unversed, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, 'Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway' actress Rani Mukerji, and ‘Dunki’ actress Taapsee Pannu were also a part of the roundtable.
“People have come up to me after I spoke about how much I loved Animal, and said, ‘You have made Rocky Aur Rani,’ That’s the vaccination for a film like Animal. It’s the opposite extreme. I said that I cannot disagree with you more, because Animal to me is the best film of the year. It took me a while to reach to this statement and a lot of courage because when you are around people, you fear judgment,” Karan Johar said.
“Like during the time of Kabir Singh, which I also loved… I was like I am going to say this and I am going to get dirty looks from certain people but I don’t care anymore,” he added.
Praising ‘Animal’ further, Karan Johar said, “I loved Animal for its front-footed, absolutely conviction-based narrative storytelling, breaking grammar, breaking myths, breaking everything that you think conforms to mainstream cinema. Suddenly you have an interval block where the hero is getting bashed up and everyone’s singing a song… I am like, ‘Where have you seen a sequence like this?’ It’s genius.”
“The end, where the two men are going for each other and they play that song… I had tears in my eyes, but there was only blood. So I was like something is wrong with me or something is wrong with him, but something put together is very right about this film. This is not an average thinking mind. This is a mind of someone who is so distinct, so individualistic that I was blown away. I saw the film twice, first to see as an audience member and second to study it. I think the success, and acceptance of Animal is game-changing. The conviction is something that I want to have,” he added.
For the uninitiated, ‘Animal’ revolves around a complicated father-son relationship. Ranbir is playing the role of Rannvijay Singh, who is hell-bent on taking revenge after there is an assassination attempt on his father, played by Anil Kapoor.
On the other hand, Karan Johar’s ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ is a family drama, starring Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan.
The star cast of ‘RRKPK’ also included Tota Roy Chowdhury, Churni Ganguly, Kshiti Jog, Aamir Bashir, Anjali Anand, Namit Das, and Abhinav Sharma among others.
In the movie, Rocky (played by Ranveer Singh), a Punjabi West Delhi businessman, falls in love with Rani (Alia Bhatt), a progressive Bengali journalist.
