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Actor Rajkummar Rao opened up about the portrayal of toxic masculinity in films such as Devdas and Animal, and said that it should be up to the audience to decide how it views such portrayals of men. He also said that he enjoyed the controversial Animal, which has been attracting criticisim for its perceived misogyny for months following its December release.
In an interview with Raj Shamani, when he was asked why audiences and filmmakers are fascinated by toxic characters, Rajkummar said, “If you watch Devdas and want to become like him, the problem is with you. The filmmaker has told a story, saying that there might be a guy like Devdas. He hasn’t told you to become Devdas. And it’s based on a book. It’s a character story, he’s not asking you to be like him. Devdas dies at the end; the filmmaker is saying that if you do this, you’ll die early. Devdas isn’t shown to be thriving; he has no money, no family, nothing.”
Rajkummar was referring to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s version of Devdas, which starred Shah Rukh Khan in the titular role. Shah Rukh has often said that he and Bhansali had differences over the portrayal of Devdas, and that he himself wanted the character to appear more spineless in the film.
About Animal, Rajkummar said, “I loved the experience of watching Animal, I’ll be honest. Are there some issues in the film? Yes, maybe. But I enjoyed the film, I loved Ranbir Kapoor’s performance, I thought it was mind-blowing. I was talking to a senior critic, who pointed out something interesting. He said that the filmmaker has named the film ‘Animal’, because the guy is an ‘animal’. He isn’t calling the film ‘Idol Man’.”
In the same interview, Rajkummar said that he grew up in a patriarchal environment, and had to make an effort to not fall prey to it. Many people have criticised Animal, both inside and outside the film industry. But despite these criticisms and generally negative reviews, the movie emerged as a massive hit – the biggest of Ranbir’s career, with Rs 900 crore-plus worldwide.
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