Ranbir Kapoor recalls apologising for doing Animal, says film helped him 'shift from a boy to a man': ‘I was called...'

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal starring Ranbir Kapoor was criticised for its violent and misogynistic tone. Now, Ranbir has finally opened up on the same and revealed why Animal was important to him. 

In an interview with Nikhil Kamath, Ranbir Kapoor opened up about the aftermath of Animal’s release, and how people from within the industry told him that they were disappointed he headlined the movie. 

He said, “Social media played havoc. They needed something to talk about, so they really went to town claiming it was a misogynistic film. What happens is that the hard work that you put in… I know the director had made Kabir Singh, which also faced the same thing, the hard work gets diminished. Because it gets this tag, which isn’t true, the perception stayed with this film. So, the general public will speak very fondly about the film.” 

He further added how he apologised to people who were disappointed in him for doing Animal and said, “but there are many people I meet, who tell me, ‘You shouldn’t have done this film, we are so disappointed in you’. And a lot of people from the film industry (said the same thing). I quietly apologize and say, ‘Sorry I won’t do it next time.’ I don’t really agree with them, but I am in that phase of my life I don’t argue with anyone. If you don’t like my work, I will say I am sorry I will try harder next time.” 

He added that he was ‘scared’ when he was offered the film and wanted to do it to break free of his good boy image on screen. He said, ““I had always been following a career path where I was doing good roles, trying to give good social messages, play the ‘good boy’ basically, the coming-of-age romantic image that I had. So, I found this very bold, adult-rated. I was scared that maybe the audience would not accept me. When the film was released, even though it did amazing numbers and we got a lot of love, there is a big audience which found the film misogynist and wrong, in some way.”

Not only this, when asked if he would do the film all over again, Ranbir said he would. “I was stagnating and hitting a saturation point in my career. I was called the ‘next superstar’ for a very long time–and I am not saying I am that today, because unless you have those continuous blockbuster films, you can’t be called a superstar–but Animal was the correct film at the right time, to take another step up. Because I had been flatlining in the same status, so that was very important for me, for my confidence, to shift from a boy to a man in some ways.”

During the conversation, entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath and Ranbir Kapoor opened up about their personal lives, sharing stories of their childhood and family dynamics. Kamath reminisced about his early life. He reflected on the emotional journey of dealing with his father’s loss, and his brother’s stroke, highlighting how these experiences shaped his entrepreneurial spirit.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal went on to collect over Rs 900 crore at the box office worldwide despite facing criticism. Now, Ranbir Kapoor is all set to star in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana alongside Sai Pallavi. The actor will be playing the role of Lord Ram in the movie. He also has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War alongside Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in the pipeline.

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