Image instagrammed by Bhumi, a scene from Animal. (courtesy: BhumiPednekar)
Bhumi Pednekar, whose new film Bhakshak released today, shared her opinion on Animal - the much-debated film of the recent time. Bhumi watched the film and she believes a film is a filmmaker's way of "self-expression." When asked by The Lallantop if she watched Animal, Bhumi said she watched the film and added she has never enjoyed watching "hyper-masculine films." Bhumi told The Lallantop, "I watched Animal. Par mujhe hyper-masculine films maja hi nehi aata. Aur ye abhi se nehi, bohat pehle se hain.. Hollywood ki bhi action films hain na...mujhe na rom-com, agar mera genre pooche, mujhe woh films zyada pasand aati hai ( I don't like watching hyper-masculine films, and it's not for now, earlier also I never enjoyed those kind of films. Even in Hollywood, the action films... I like watching rom-coms)."
Bhumi added, "I genuinely believe that a film is a filmmaker's self-expression, and that is very important. But as an audience, what you learn from that self-expression, that is the challenge."
Ever since Animal released in theatres, the debate around the film refuses to die. A large section of the audience slammed the film for its portrayal of misogyny and toxic masculinity. Celebrities like Javed Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma also expressed their thoughts on the film. Javed Akhtar, without taking the name of Animal, slammed the film heavily last month. He said at the Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival in Aurangabad, "I believe it's a testing time for the young filmmakers today as to what kind of characters they want to create that the society will applaud. For instance, if there's a film in which a man asks a woman to lick his shoe or if a man says it's okay to slap a woman, and if the film is a super duper hit, then that's very dangerous." For context, Ranbir Kapoor (Rannvijay) asks Zoya (Triptii Dimri) to lick his boots in the film.
Despite receiving criticism, the film minted a huge amount of money at the box office. Animal also won five Filmfare Awards this year including Ranbir Kapoor's trophy in the Best Actor (Popular) category.