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EXCLUSIVE: Rajesh Khattar defends Ranbir Kapoor's Animal and Shahid Kapoor's Kabir Singh, says '60% women went to watch the film'
While speaking exclusively with Pinkvilla, veteran actor Rajesh Khattar defended Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal and Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh for being subjected to criticism.
Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh and the most recent Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 have received immense love from the cine-goers. Despite this, the films have also been subjected to significant criticism, with a section of society pointing out the toxic male chauvinism and misogyny in the film. Recently, Rajesh Khattar spoke with us and defended their cinematic depiction.
Expressing his views on the significant judgment, Rajesh Khattar mentioned, "It’s an age-old debate, it is not today's debate. And I won't say much on it because there's a lot already being said on this subject. I mean plain and simple, as a cinema-going audience, if I can react, then I would say let entertainment be entertainment."
"I mean, let it stay there. And everybody is entitled to choose what they want to see and what they don't want to see. And putting this heavy onus on cinema, that cinema is going to change the society or impact the society in a negative way. It's better not to put such heavy responsibilities on cinema," he further added.
Khattar emphasized that things happening in the real world are ‘beyond the imagination of any writer.’ According to him, people are raising their own "self-interest" by raising these issues and not doing anything "effectively" about it. The Don actor remarked that "effectively" things start from home and change will happen with one noting how their family members, son behaves and daughters conduct themselves.
Addressing Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh, Khattar stated, "I think the fact of the matter that it went beyond 300 crores and that was one of the biggest hits of Shahid. So that says it all." He explained his point by drawing a comparison between people mentioning misogyny, chauvinism, and a man-woman relationship to a survey showing that out of the "entire 100% audience, 60% were women who went to watch the film."
"Now all these so-called people who had woken up to the fact that this entire premise of the story is misogynistic, and they were trying to safeguard women and their interests, I think they should go and speak to those women who went to see the movie once, twice, thrice, four times," he said.
He further talked about Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal and asserted that the makers have never claimed that it's an ideal character. He admitted that there is an aberration in the character, and it's a dysfunctional family. Khattar questioned if one is not even entitled to narrate the story of a dysfunctional family that is usually prevalent in metro cities.
"So what is happening in real life, you know, when you are trying to depict that on screen, then there are a thousand questions and if something randomly happens, whatever has happened on screen, randomly, in thousands, it is blown out of proportion," he stated.
Talking about Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2, Khatter remarked, "It's a thing of entertainment. People are sitting in the theater, they are getting entertained, and they are simply forgetting about it. Pushpa is a great entertainment. It's been shot so lavishly, so beautifully, it's been enacted so beautifully, it's been directed so well, and it's what you call a so-called commercial cinema at its best and that is showing through numbers. You sit down, criticize it, analyze it."
During the conversation, he also heaped praises on Shahid Kapoor’s craft and mentioned how he has "grown tremendously" over the years. He noted that Kapoor is an "accomplished actor" and a "big star" because of his versatility in his acting which ranges from working in a historical period drama to comedy films.
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