Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar recently took an indirect dig at Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal stating that commercial success of films with problematic scenes is a “dangerous” trend.
Speaking at the Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival in Aurangabad early this week, Akhtar was referring to a scene in which Ranbir Kapoor’s Ranvijay, asks Triptii Dimri’s Zoya to lick his shoe in order to prove his love for him.
“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,” he said.
Now, the official X handle of the film has responded to the comments, stating that if a writer of his “calibre” cannot understand the betrayal of a lover, “then all your art form is big false.”
“Writer of your calibre cannot understand the betrayal of a lover (Between Zoya & Ranvijay) then all your art form is big false & If a woman (betrayed and fooled by a man in the name of love) would have said “lick my shoe” then you guys would have celebrated it by calling it feminism. Let love be free from the politics of gender. Let’s just call them lovers. Lover cheated and lied. Lover said lick my shoe. Period,” they wrote.
Previously too the official X handle of Animal has been quick to get back at the critics of the film.
Javed Akhtar, along with Salim Khan, is known for the creation of the Angry Young Man of Hindi cinema, Amitabh Bachchan. The duo has written films like Zanjeer (1973), Deewar (1975) and Sholay (1975), among others. Akhtar is a recipient of the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007. He has also won the National Awards five times as a lyricist and has been an MP of the Rajya Sabha.
Writer of your calibre cannot understand the betrayal of a lover (Between Zoya & Ranvijay) then all your art form is big FALSE & If a woman (betrayed and fooled by a man in the name of love) would have said “lick my shoe” then you guys would have celebrated it by calling it…
— Animal The Film (@AnimalTheFilm) January 7, 2024
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