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A filmmaker has creative freedom, yes. But he should also remember that movies shape real life so it is NOT ok to glorify violence!
Trigger Warning: This has graphic descriptions of violence and may be triggering for survivors.
‘Animal’ is the topic of discussion nowadays. Many are celebrating the Arjun Reddy director’s new release starring Ranbir Kapoor. While Ranbir showed his tremendous acting skills through different getups, the movie is triggering for many.
Why is it triggering? This is a major question one should ask if they have watched the movie. It is triggering for so many reasons, but the most highlighted part is that the movie made a violent, aggressive man a heroic figure. The young fans are celebrating Ranbir Kapoor’s character. And that is a major problem.
At the time of the release of the Malayalam movie ‘Uyare,’ Asif Ali, who played a major role in the movie, was a heroic figure in his previous movies. But nobody justified his character in ‘Uyare’, and as an actor, he succeeded in it. Even though he is a star, his character was hated by the audience. But in the case of ‘Animal,’ people are not hating Ranbir’s character, and that is the issue with this movie.
While people are referring to the director’s creativity and freedom, they forget that freedom comes with responsibility. As citizens, through our work, we should show some responsibility towards our country. And ‘Animal’ fails from that perspective. I saw a post on this movie saying that it is okay to torture Rashmika’s character because she chose him as her husband on her own. So basically, they are saying it is okay to torture your partner in a love marriage.
Recent data show that 37% of women and above experienced domestic violence, and many are unreported. These numbers include physical and emotional violence. And these numbers are not just numbers, and these acts should not be normalized.
While watching and enjoying the scenes of this movie, we should also remember these numbers. because humans are good at imitating. We follow certain trends in movies. Movies have a deep influence on us. The actions of our favourite will become a part of who we are. This influence will make us behave like that character. We know that many movies normalise slapping wives, but ‘Thappad’ pointed out that it is not just a slap. But that movie was not digestible for many. There are many examples to show from real life, including how movies change our lives.
So the point is, a filmmaker like Sandeep Vanga Reddy has the freedom to follow his art. But normalising aggressive behaviour towards your partner and making this animalistic character a heroic figure is not okay. One can celebrate the actor in Ranbir, but not his character in Animal.
Pursuing Post Graduation in Journalism and Media Studies after completing MA in Philosophy. Currently Unlearning and learning many things. read more...
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