New Delhi: It has been more than two months since “Animal” was released, but the debate around it is far from over. Rightly so, because the film not only demolished Bollywood records but also disrupted the norms of movie-making and storytelling in the Indian film industry.
The first phase of the “Animal” debate erupted when the film was released in theatres. It was a war of words between Vanga and film critics like Anupama Chopra and Rajeev Masand. Vanga went full throttle, calling them “illiterates”.
The second phase arrived when the film got an OTT release. Once again the verbal attack on Vanga intensified. And this time Vanga has reacted even more strongly. He has launched an offensive against Kiran Rao, Javed Akhtar, and Farhan Akhtar and showed them a mirror.
While it’s ok for Kiran Rao and Javed Akhtar to criticize “Animal”, it’s wrong to accuse Sandeep Reddy Vanga of promoting “toxic masculinity” and “misogyny” as it has been an integral part of Bollywood for the longest time. Vanga just went a step ahead and repackaged old wine in a new bottle.
Now let’s break down and analyze all the accusations made against Vanga and his creation “Animal”. Firstly, he has been accused of glorifying misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Vanga himself has answered back on this by giving an example of Aamir Khan’s “Dil”. In the movie, Aamir almost attempts to rape Madhuri and later they are shown falling in love. Bollywood is full of such examples and has openly glorified toxic masculinity in movies like “Benaam Badshah”, “Tezaab”, “Hero”, “Sanju”, “Ye Jawani Hai Diwani” and many more. Secondly, Vanga has been accused of objectifying women.
But has not women objectification been intrinsic to Bollywood? Hasn’t Bollywood always treated women as “sex objects”? What did Raj Kapoor do in most of his movies? His heroines like Zeenat Aman, Dimple Kapadia, Mandakini, Simi Garewal, and Padmini were all made to shed clothes even though it was not required at any point in the movie.
And who can forget the cabaret dance that ruled the era of the 60ties and 70ties? Helen, Bindu, and the likes of Aruna Irani were always featured either dancing in bars or with men drooling over her. The makers made sure that they expose on camera in the cheapest possible way. The tradition was carried forward by item girls. Since 90ties item numbers have become mandatory in movies. Even star actresses like Madhuri Dikshit, Aishwarya Rai, and Kareena Kapoor did item numbers with terrible lyrics like “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai”, “Main toh tandoori murga hoon yaar” and “Chikni Chameli”. Not to forget the vulgar dance steps and double meaning lyrics that were served in family movies in the name of entertainment.
Now let’s talk about the third allegation against Vanga i.e. glorification of a wild and wicked character as an anti-hero in “Animal”. Well, Bollywood has no right to talk about it. For years Bollywood has glorified gangsters, terrorists, and criminals like Dawood Ibrahim, Haji Mastan and Abdul Latif in their movies. Even a superstar like Shahrukh Khan essayed the role of a dreaded gangster of Gujarat in “Raees”. Dialogues like “Baniye ka Dimaag and Miyabhai ki daring” shamelessly glorified the rioting skills of the gangster.
Then came the era of web series which unabashedly sells pornography in the name of art. Barring few, every series shamelessly glorifies vulgar language, extramarital affairs, drugs, and cruelty. Not only this, when questioned about the content, the creators, and streaming platform jumps to justify it in the name of realism and viewers’s choice. Cinema is considered to be a reflection of society and culture but on a macroscopic level only a fraction of Hindi movies have the essence of Indian society.
Web series like Mirzapur and Sacred Games sold soft pornography in the name of realistic story and nobody from Bollywood felt the need to point it out.
However when Sandeep Reddy Vanga came up with “Kabir Singh” and “Animal”, Javed Akhtar, Kiran Rao, and Swanand Kirkire suddenly felt the need to raise their voice against “misogyny” and “toxic masculinity”.
Why were these critics blind to movies like Gangs of Wassypur, Sanju, DevD, and Dabangg.
Probably because Sandeep Reddy Vanga does not belong to powerful gangs in Bollywood or probably because he does not pay any heed to powerful Bollywood critics.
Whatever be the reason, it’s time for Bollywood to introspect and reconnect with real people and society and come up with meaningful entertainment, otherwise “Animal” will define the future of Hindi cinema.