Actor Triptii Dimri who recently starred in Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role and directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, said that cinema is about free artistic expression and added that she submitted to the director's vision for the film, although it has been tagged misogynistic.
With polarised views coming on Animal, does she feel the film was misogynistic in any way? In an interview with IANS, she said, "I think cinema is about free artistic expression, and it should be that way.”
She went on to cite two examples. “When I did the rape scene in Bulbul and when I did the suicide scene in Qala, there were a lot of people who reached out to me and said that I should not have performed that scene because it's not a pleasant scene, or you should not have done the suicide scene because it can make people take that step in life.” She also added that if those scenes were not added, then it would not have made sense.
“So, I think similarly, here, the scenes that people are talking about, they were an integral part of the story, and we had to add those. Those things had to be there for the entire film to feel complete,” added Triptii, while noting that it is really important as an actor, to not judge the character that she is playing.
“I think this is something that I've learned in my acting classes from my acting coach: that every time you do a character, you're given a character to play, play it with utmost honesty,” said the actress, who made her debut in 2017.
She added: “Even if your character is killing people or your character is doing something bad or harming someone, you have to feel everything that the character is supposed to feel because he's also coming from someplace, and in his head, the actions that he's taking are justified.”
Triptii said that she is not like her characters Qala, Bulbul, or Zoya and she as a person doesn't agree with what they have done.
“I would not have done in my life. But in that situation, in that moment, I have to submit to the director's vision, and I have to do what the character and the script demands of me and do it with full honesty because people have a right to present their opinion. That is why we make films; that is why every film should be discussed,” she said.
Apart from Ranbir, the film also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna in pivotal roles.
Despite the polarizing opinions on the film, Animal has been raging at the box office. Our review of the film read: “Love happens crudely, and misogynistically in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s universe. Ranvijay spots Geetanjali (Rashmika Mandanna) while she is getting engaged. He looks at her like Kabir Singh or Arjun Reddy looked at their Preetis. I want her. Love here is more obsession and possession than affection. It is also manipulation. Ranvijay uses an evolutionary explanation to brainwash Gitanjali into marrying him. “In the olden days, there weren’t parents or castes, women chose their partners themselves. Who would you choose if not an alpha?” he asks her. It’s convoluted like feminism being mansplained.”
