"Indian Cinema Being Embarrassed": Lyricist Swanand Kirkire Fumes At Ranbir Kapoor's 'Animal'
Swanand Kirkire has taken to social media, to express his discomfort over the treatment of women depicted in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's 'Animal'.
'Animal' directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna, continues to spark intense discussion. The new Hindi movie is being criticised by some sections for showing domestic abuse, sexual abuse, toxic masculinity and excess violence. Despite the severe backlash, the new Hindi movie is raking in the moolah and the film has already made more than Rs 200 crore, and it is poised to become the highest-grossing film of Ranbir Kapoor's career.
In the latest entertainment news, lyricist and writer Swanand Kirkire has taken to social media, to express his discomfort over the film's treatment of women and he also spoke about how women are laughing in theatre after seeing Rashmika Mandanna's character being ill-treated by Ranbir.
“All thanks to cinema. But today after watching the movie Animal, I really felt pity for the women of today’s generation. Today again a new man has been prepared for you, who is more scary, who does not respect at all and who aims to subdue you and suppress you, and he feels that it is his objective as a man to feel proud of doing these things," he wrote in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter).
"The girls of today’s generation were sitting in that cinema hall and applauding when Rashmika was being beaten. I, in my mind, paid homage to every idea of equality. I have come home. Desperate, dejected and weak. Ranbir’s dialogue in which he defines alpha male and says that men who are not able to become alpha, they become poets to attract women and start making promises of bringing the moon and stars to them. I am a poet. I do poetry for living. Do I have a place? This film is making a lot of money and the glorious history of Indian cinema is being embarrassed," he added.
Check out the post here:
सब सिनेमा की बदौलत। पर आज एनिमल फ़िल्म देख कर मुझे सचमुच आज की पीढ़ी की स्त्रियों पर दया आयी ! आप के लिये फिर एक नया पुरुष तैयार किया गया है जो ज़्यादा डरावना है , वो आपकी इतनी भी इज़्ज़त नहीं करता और जो आप को झुकाने , दबाने और उस पर गर्व करने को अपना
— Swanand Kirkire (@swanandkirkire) December 2, 2023
The lyricist also said that he is now concerned about the future of Indian cinema.
"In my understanding, this film will determine the future of Indian cinema afresh, in a new, scary and dangerous direction," he said.
For the unversed, Swanand Kirkire had started his post by naming a number of old films that highlighted women issues and it helped him understand the other gender better.
“Mehboob Khan’s – Aurat, Gurudutt’s – Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s – Anupama, Shyam Benegal’s Ankur and Bhumika, Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala, Sudhir Mishra’s Main Zinda Hoon, Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish, Behl’s Queen, Sujit Sarkar Ki Piku etc, There are many such films in Hindustani cinema which taught me how to respect a woman, her rights and her autonomy and how, after understanding everything, there are still many shortcomings in this age-old thinking. I don’t know whether I succeeded in understanding woman or not, but even today I am constantly trying to improve myself," he said.
For the unversed, 'Animal' has been given an 'A' (adults only) certificate and the movie has a runtime of more than 3 hours.
Despite a clash with Vicky Kaushal's 'Sam Bahadur', 'Animal' is continuing to wreak havoc at the box office.
