Thousands of movies are made in the Hindi Film Industry. But as discussed in the movie review of Animal there comes a movie that rattles the industry, breaks the stereotypes, and shows what untamed creativity can be or the impact it can have on the industry. Let’s take the example of Bahubali which was released in the year 2015 and brought the South Indian Film industry into the mainstream and persuaded producers of the Hindi film industry to collaborate with the South. As we all know a vast majority of the movies that are made in Bollywood are remakes of the original movies produced in other countries, movies from the south, and movies that have a social message with a load of propaganda. Because Bollywood’s lack of creativity and originality are well known to its viewers. But what happens when an outsider comes and makes the movie using actors from the same industry and creates a blockbuster? Is he welcomed or does he become the target of hate because of something that doesn’t click with the big guns?
TOXICITY – A PERSPECTIVE
According to Google definition of toxic is poisonous, unpleasant, or something that is unacceptable and causes us a lot of unhappiness. But the word toxic also has to be looked upon from a different perspective to understand the sense this word makes. Let us understand this with the help of a few examples. In the old days punishing children for a mistake, they made or a misdeed they did, that could have turned into a big crime one day was appreciated and accepted by society as it was in favour of the child. But in today, day and age punishing children is considered a punishable offense. A punishment that was seen as healthy some decades ago is now being termed as toxic. Living a healthy lifestyle is toxic but consuming processed foods, and avoiding exercise is healthy. From this, we can understand that the definition of toxic evolves from time to time. But what have I emphasized about the word toxic? This was because when Animal was released and was bashed by a section of the audience for showing things that were different from society’s narrative. This motivated me to shed some light upon the elements in the movie that have been garnering hate. Further in this article, we will discuss the same in detail.
EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE & BLOODSHED
Violence is something that has to be a part of a crime-action movie. Else there would have been no point in adding it to the crime genre. Crime without violence is like a car without an engine. The movie has received a lot of flak for the same. But now we shall take an example of the web series Mirzapur. If we look at the overall action scenes that had bloodshed. Especially the scene from the final episode of the first season where Munna Tripathi mercilessly kills Bablu and Sweety and the few scenes that had Guddu killing people only for fun. Animal stands nowhere near it. Animal had only a few scenes that had blood oozing out from the characters. But given the fact that movies like Evil Dead, John Wick, and Chainsaw Massacre from Hollywood that had the worst kind of violence, became hits, got a 4-star rating on review websites, and have a huge following amongst the masses. The audience shouldn’t mind some scenes from Animal that are labeled as violent cause the majority of these people are fanatics of violence. Then who are these people who are calling Animal a violent film? Also, note despite all the blood and violent scenes in the above-mentioned web series and movies. They were well received by the audience.
SEXISM, MISOGYNY AND DISRESPECT TOWARDS WOMEN
A man gets nightmares that can haunt his entire life when he gets put into the category of the terms mentioned in the heading. Narcissist women and self-proclaimed feminists usually use these terms when they are not able to get anything of advantage out of a man. If a man has boundaries and doesn’t let any random women cross them, he is labelled according to the most vicious terms in the dictionary of feminists. But when a woman enforces boundaries that men are not supposed to cross, she is called an empowered, strong, and independent woman. But there is no such scene in the movie where the character of Rannvijay is seen assaulting his wife. Instead, he helped his wife out during pregnancy when none of her parents showed up. On the contrary, we can see the character of Geetanjali slapping Rannvijay several times when he confesses his infidelity. Imagine the reaction of feminists if the characters were reversed. Now speaking of the character of Abrar Haque played by Bobby Deol. Yes, he is what we can call misogynist in the true sense. But if people have a problem with that then what a villain is supposed to do? Help people. In the climax we see the men of Rannvijay arranging an ambulance for one of the four wives of Abrar who is in labour pain and helps her get to hospital. How is this misogyny in the right sense?
IMPACT OF ANIMAL ON SOCIETY & HYPOCRISY OF REVIEWERS & AUDIENCE
Many web series and movies are being released on several OTT platforms that can be accused of promoting promiscuity and violence against men under the name of women’s empowerment. If the character of Rannvijay can be judged and called a cheater and put under the fire for the same then all the female characters should be judged equally. In Mirzapur, there are several scenes where women are treated as sex objects. The scene where Munna Tripathi is shown in action with a woman and counts the number of times, he enters her. Beena Tripathi who is the stepmom of Munna also knows about his trysts yet arranges girls for him making them victims of his lust. Why isn’t this pointed out and criticized by the movie reviewers? Not to forget half-naked scenes of Ganesh Gaitonde in sacred games with his wife. Isn’t that offensive? In Dolly Kitty Aur Who Chamakte Sitaare the character of Kokona Sen Sharma sleeps with the delivery boy because her husband is busy and doesn’t give her wife the attention she needs. Is it setting the right precedent for women? Speaking of violence against women, we see Beena Tripathi chopping the penis of her household whose child she’s carrying. Is crime against men justified? The animal has no such scenes and doesn’t promote or glorify anything that is considered bad. Also, the vulgar dialogues in Mirzapur and Sacred Games are several times more objectionable than those spoken in Animal. Animal promotes love and bonding between father and son and is the highlight of the movie. Movies that portray the father as a monster are glorified and movies where the father is shown as a lovable and respectful person are cancelled or called out.
A MESSAGE TO THE AUDIENCE
Not to say movies don’t play a role in shaping society. But no to that extent we think of. Yet it sets a narrative and can change the thinking of people. But on if they are based on facts and reasoning. So before labelling any content as toxic or harmful to society, there should be a valid justification for the same. If society had been so influenced by movies, we could have built a society on Mars, built time machines, and fought aliens. Judge all movies with the same parameters and let justice prevail.