Swanand Kirkire slams Bobby Deol starrer Animal, says Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film glorifies toxic masculinity: ‘We were learning gender equality, then Animal happened’

While Bobby Deol earned massive praise for his menacing role in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, not everyone in the industry is on board with the film’s messaging. National Award-winning lyricist and writer Swanand Kirkire has voiced strong objections to the film’s portrayal of masculinity and poetry.
‘Animal glorifies toxic masculinity,’ says Swanand Kirkire on Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal
Speaking on The Lallantop’s podcast, Swanand Kirkire didn’t hold back as he criticised Animal and the larger acceptance it received. He said, “From Mehboob Khan’s Aurat, Guru Dutt’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam to Vikas Bahl’s Queen and Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, these films taught us how to look at women with empathy and respect. They offered a progressive lens. Hindi cinema was helping men like me, coming from places like Indore, understand what gender equality truly means. Even in Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D, women were shown as independent beings. And then, someone makes Animal, and we accept it. My issue isn’t with the film being made, it’s with the overwhelming acceptance it received.”
Swanand recalls a disturbing post-movie conversation: “She said Bobby Deol is so hot”
The Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi writer recalled meeting a girl shortly after watching Animal, and her reaction disturbed him deeply. “I remember the day I saw the film, I met a girl who had seen it twice. She said, ‘Bobby Deol is so hot.’ What disturbed me was how Sandeep Reddy Vanga rejected all forms of positive masculinity and instead glorified its most toxic form.”
“Poetry reduced to insecurity in Animal, yet used to glorify violence”: Kirkire slams hypocrisy
Swanand also took offense to a particular dialogue in Animal, where Ranbir Kapoor’s character Ranvijay tells Rashmika Mandanna’s Geetanjali that insecure men who couldn’t become alpha males turned into poets.
“I don’t even mind if that’s a perspective. But the film claims that those who couldn’t be alpha males became poets, as if poetry is the last resort of insecure men. And yet, the same film uses poetry and lyrics to turn Ranvijay into an alpha male. In the Arjan Vailly song where he’s slaughtering hundreds, it’s not the visuals but the poetry and music that create the thrill. You dismiss poetry in one dialogue but can’t do away with it in your music. After this, Sandeep Reddy Vanga might get angry at me again, but that’s okay.”

Swanand Kirkire had earlier criticised Animal on Twitter as well, which led to a sharp response from director Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

On the work front, Swanand is currently writing a film based on his college friend Jeevan, who once taught him how to perfectly iron clothes, a memory that has stayed with him through the years.