Vidya Balan Says Animal Worked Because Ranbir, Sandeep Vanga Were 'Unapologetic': 'It Was Entertaining'

Vidya Balan praised Ranbir Kapoor and Sandeep Reddy Vanga for being ‘unapologetic’ about Animal. The film released in December 2023 and shattered several box office records. Collecting over Rs 900 crores at the box office, it not only was one of the biggest hits of the year but also the biggest hit of Ranbir’s career. The film was subjected to a lot of scrutiny and was accused of ‘glorifying male toxicity.’ However, Vidya said the makers for being unabashed about the film.

In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Vidya was weighing in on content and execution when she praised Animal. “Conviction is the name of the game here. We are told content is king. But you can have great content told unconvincingly. Animal is a great example of that. I don’t mean that it was not good content, but they were not apologetic and second-guessing. They told the story unabashedly. And look at the way the film worked. While telling a story, be unapologetic,” she said.

Ask her about the debate on the misogyny attached to Animal and Vidya explained, “There are different layers around a film. At the basic level, it was about the conviction with which the story was told. It didn’t let the audience drop the attention even for a second. You can agree and disagree with the film, but you know it was entertaining.”

Animal revolves around a man and his toxic relationship with his father. The film shows Vijay (played by Ranbir) as an anti-hero who would go to any lengths to protect his father, including gun down 200 people with machine gun. However, despite his efforts, he struggles to get a seal of approval from his emotionally unavailable father (played by Anil Kapoor). Animal 2, officially titled as Animal Park, is already in the making.

Meanwhile, Vidya will be seen in Do Aur Do Pyaar. She will shared the screen with Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D’Cruz and Sendhil Rammurthy. The film is slated to release on April 19.