Javed Akhtar has given an explanation for his past blunt remarks against the blockbuster success of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's 2023 family crime drama Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role. In an interview with Mojo Story, he clarified that he was alluding to the audience, not so much the film. 

What Javed said

“I did not opine on Animal, I opined on the audience. Honestly! I believe if 10-12-15 people have made a film with wrong values… if 10-12 people produce a song which is vulgar, crude, obscene… that's not the problem. If 15 out of 140 crore people are perverts or have wrong values, it's okay, doesn't matter. When that thing goes out in the market and becomes a superhit, that's the problem,” said Javed.

When the veteran lyricist and screenwriter was asked why he thinks Animal succeeded, he joked, “I think the basic title tells you why. The title is self-explanatory.” Earlier this year, Javed claimed at an event that while he hadn't seen Animal, he had heard about the problematic scene in which the male protagonist (Ranbir) asks his love interest (Triptii Dimri) to lick his shoe in order to prove her love and loyalty. Javed said that the fact, that Animal earned over ₹500 crore at the domestic box office, only demonstrates how dangerous the society consuming it is.

Sandeep's response to Javed

Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the director of Animal, had taken offense to Javed's statement and claimed that he should watch the film first in order to understand the context. Sandeep also questioned his hypocrisy, given his son Farhan Akhtar is a co-producer on Prime Video India crime thriller show Mirzapur, infamous for its obscene language.

Later, in his retort, Javed pointed out that in order to call out his hypocrisy, Sandeep could only find a show produced – not even directed or written – by his son's production house Excel Entertainment. The fact that Sandeep couldn't find even an instance of sexism or obscenity in Javed's own filmography or discography is very flattering.

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