On 1st January 2024, Bollywood Producer Karan Johar said that for him Animal was the best film in 2023 while admitting that he might get “dirty looks” (criticism) for praising the film which drew criticism from people who are considered close to the Bollywood producer.
Karan Johar made the assertion in an interaction on the Galatta Plus Pan-India Roundtable 2023, where the film’s director Sandeep Reddy Vanga was also present.
Now that #Animal has become a monstrous hit, most will admit it grudgingly.. but still pretty brave of karan johar to say this openly in spite of belonging to the islamist/leftist liberal lobby.. imagine even he felt scared to voice his opinion freely..pic.twitter.com/N4TJDzCDNU
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) January 2, 2024
Johar said, “….Animal to me is the best film of the year. It took me a while to reach this statement and a lot of courage because when you are around people, you fear judgment. 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.”
Karan Johar added that when he came out publicly to admit that he loved Animal, people reminded him saying, ‘You have made Rocky Aur Rani,’ That’s the vaccination for a film like Animal. It’s the opposite extreme. Johar added that he could not disagree with them more, because for him Animal was 2023’s best film.
Notably, a section of the Bollywood fraternity including film critics ran a campaign against Sandeep Reddy Vanga-helmed Animal accusing it of promoting “toxic masculinity” and setting a bad precedence for society.
Incidentally, post the success of Animal, Vanga appeared in a string of interviews. In several of these interviews, he revealed that there is a section of the Bollywood fraternity that has ganged up and targeted him, hinting that they do the same with all those who don’t get along well with them. According to Vanga, this gang likes a certain kind of cinema, and they appreciate certain filmmakers’ movies only. He said, “What I see is that there is a clear hatred towards a filmmaker than a film.” Naming a few film critics, he had advised them to go to China and called them “illiterate” and “uneducated”.
Regarding the criticism that Animal promotes misogyny, Karan Johar argued that if one goes after a film, they can find flaws in every film. Defending the film, he argued, “You can debate about it, you can debate the politics, the scenes, but I am aroused and engaged by the cinema of this film. You get into the nitty-gritty of every film, and you can find flaws and red flags, but for me, the biggest green flag is the talent of this man who has conceptualised this film. I have seen so many good films this year, but the only film which taught me something was this film.”
Nonetheless, Karan Johar explained the reason why he liked the film saying, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Karan Johar said, “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.”
Praising Animal’s director Vanga, the Bollywood producer described him as “distinct” and “individualistic” adding that he saw the film twice and it was the movie in 2023 from which he learned something. According to him, the success, and acceptance of Animal is game-changing. It’s going to bring in a tone and syntax which doesn’t exist.
He added that Vanga has a strong conviction and doesn’t hesitate to stop a popular song at his will. Johar said, “I love that he has a popular song, he plays it then he stops it whenever he wants to. Before the refrain comes out, he stops it, he starts it when he wants to, and he cuts the scene how he has to. It is like he is telling a story with such conviction and that’s the conviction that I want to have.”
