'You made a problematic movie': Fans lash out at the makers of Animal, support Javed Akhtar in ongoing fiasco

Netizens have already chosen their sides in the ongoing controversy involving legendary writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and the makers of Animal. It all started after Akhtar took a dig at the film at an event saying, “If there’s a film in which a man asks a woman to lick his shoe or if a man says it’s okay to slap a woman… and the film is a super hit, that’s dangerous.” However, soon after this, the official Twitter handle of Animal lashed out at the lyricist.

The account released a tweet tagging Javed Akhtar which said, “Writer of your caliber cannot understand the betrayal of a lover (Between Zoya & Ranvijay) then all your art form is big FALSE & If a woman (betrayed and fooled by a man in the name of love) would have said "lick my shoe" then you guys would have celebrated it by calling it feminism. Let love be free from the politics of gender. Let's just call them lovers. LOVER cheated and lied. LOVER said lick my shoe. Period @Javedakhtarjadu.” Take a look at the tweet.

Also Read: Kangana Ranaut hints at career change while slamming Ranbir Kapoor's Animal, blames audience for 'steep regression' 

Writer of your calibre cannot understand the betrayal of a lover (Between Zoya & Ranvijay) then all your art form is big FALSE 🙃 & If a woman (betrayed and fooled by a man in the name of love) would have said "lick my shoe" then you guys would have celebrated it by calling it…

— Animal The Film (@AnimalTheFilm) January 7, 2024

However, now fans are coming out in support of Akhtar and are instead lashing out at the makers of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer. One of the netizens stated, “Agar har criticism ka answer dena pad rha hai you know you made a problematic movie.” A user added, “You all call yourself Alpha males and get affected by someone's comments every few days.” A netizen added, “Imagine the desperate need to respond to every critical opinion only proves your need for approval and validation. Besides it is a testimony to how toxic, problematic, and societally harmful the film is.” A fan strongly supported Akhtar and said, “Javed Akhtar has written greatest movies/songs of all times! Animal won’t even be remembered after few years! Class is Class! Quality is Quality! Making money isn’t a measure of quality.” Another user took a sharp dig at the film and said, “You have some guts… or rather I should call this arrogance of the highest level to talk about the calibre of @Javedakhtarjadu. It is films like yours that make me cringe at the thought of going to the theatre. You all hide behind exorbitant ticket prices, fake hype created through marketing blitz krit , fill in the seats for the initial few days and declare a number to be a hit. From the trailer which I watched all that your film resembles is a sorry khichri of Quentin Tarantino and the John Wick series. You might claim that your film is technically superior, but that’s what good money can buy, but good money doesn’t buy a good story.”

Also Read: Ranbir Kapoor addresses criticism around Animal, says 'Nothing goes beyond movies' 

Earlier, the Twitter account of the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial also criticized writer Swanand Kirkire for giving a negative opinion about the movie. While Reddy himself has taken a jibe at some renowned film critics who had found his movie distasteful. The movie opened to extremely polarizing reviews but turned out to be a huge blockbuster.